Chapter 13

In the continuation of Rue de la Cour de Gand, beyond Place Memling, isone of the two last remaining wood-panelled houses of Bruges.Place Jan van Eyck(Photo and sketch, p.110) is next reached.

Here stands the heavy bronze statue ofJan van Eyck, the gifted inventor of oil painting.

In front, is theAcademy or Poortersloge(14th century), formerly the House of the Burghers, then the meeting-place of the White Bear Company, whose emblem may still be seen in the corner of the building which overlooks the Rue Espagnole. It is theBeertje van Loge, the oldest "burgher" of Bruges, just as theMannekenpisis the oldest "burgher" of Brussels. However, the "Bear of Bruges" is the older of the two (1417).

Place Jan Van Eyck.

The building was used as an Art Gallery from 1719 to 1898. Since then it has been entirely rebuilt in the original style, with a slender tower facing the Rue de l'Outre, and now contains the State Records.

On the right of the square standsthe ancientTonlieu, with its pretty façade, large gable and porch, the whole artistically restored in 1880. The Municipal Library, comprising some 15,000 volumes, is now housed there. The collection includes a series ofincunablesprinted by Colard Mansion of Bruges (15th century),562 MSS, a collection of epitaphs, and theSteinmetz Collectionof drawings and engravings.

Take Rue de l'Académie, facing which, on arriving at the Place du Theatre, is theMaison des Génois, a souvenir of the great prosperity of the city during the Burgundian epoch.

The tympanum of the door is decorated with aSt. George and Dragon. This ancient warehouse of the rich Italian merchants is now a café.

In the middle of the Square isthe Theatreand behind it, the gloomyMaison des Tonneliers.

Tourists should here take a stroll through the old picturesque streets of this quarter, especially Rue des Aiguilles and Rue au Beurre, which lead tothe Church of St. Jacques.

Irregular in style, this church has a square tower with a pyramidal roof.

Erected in the 13th century and enlarged in the 15th, it bears the stamp of both periods. Especially noticeable are the irreparable marks of restorations carried out in defiance of the principles and character of the original styles. The church was sacked during the religious troubles of the 16th century. The most unfortunate alterations were those carried out at the end of the 17th century. In 1820 a ceiling was added, cutting off the upper portion of the columns and pillars. Attempts have since been made to remedy these defects.

The church contains many valuable works of art, the most important of which isThe Tomb of Ferry de Gros, treasurer of the Order of the Golden Fleece, deceased in 1544, and of his two wives, Philippine of Wiebaut and Catherine of Ailly. It is one of the very few surviving specimens of 16th century Flemish art, and remained for a long time in a walled-up chapel used as a store-room. In 1864, the chapel and tomb were completely restored. The figures are recumbent, on two superimposed stones, Ferry and his first wife being uppermost. The other stone is by far the more remarkable of the two. Attempts have been made to restore the original polychromy of the monument. The tomb and the Chapel form a very harmonious and decorative whole.

Among the paintings are: on the altar in the Chapel of Souls, areredosin three parts. It represents St. Cosmas and St. Damian, and is considered to be Lancelot Blondeel's greatest masterpiece. In the same chapel: atriptych, by Peter Pourbus (1556),The Virgin of the Seven Afflictions, and aResurrection, by the same painter (1578). In the south aisle:The Presentation of the Virgin, one of the finest works by Van Oost the Elder (1655). On the altar, in the northern nave: TheCoronation of the Virginby Albert Cornelis (1520), the only work of this master, and a fineTriptych, by Jan Mostaert (1474-1555).

In the chapels are copper and brass tablets. The carved wood pulpit, rood-loft and choir-stalls are in decadent Renaissance style (17th century). Behind the high-altar is a three-storied marble tabernacle, dating from 1593. The belfry contains some very fine bells, the oldest of which was cast in 1525.

On leaving the Church of St. Jacques, the tourist may either turn left over the bridge and along Rue des Baudets, as far as thePorte d'Ostende(photo below) or return to the Grand'Place, by Rue St. Jacques, on the right.

The Porte d'Ostende.

Lunch at Dixmude, but provide luncheon baskets, in case of need.

Leaving the Grand'Place,Bruges, via the Place du Marché-aux Œufs, take Rue de la Monnaie, on the left, then Rue Nord du Sablon, and beyond the station and level-crossing, Rue du Maréchal. Go through thePorte Maréchalewhich, like the Ostend Gate, bears traces of its 17th century restoration(Photo, p.113).

At the fork, 1 km. further on, take the right-hand road toSt-André. Pass through same, then throughVarssenaere,Jabbeke,WestkerkeandGhistelles. Beyond Ghistelles (level-crossing), take the Ostend-Thourout road, on the left. Pass throughMoerdijck(24½ kms.), and on reaching the hamlet ofHalve-Barreel, turn to the right.

Maréchale Gate, by which the tourist leaves Bruges.

At the first group of houses turn to the right, then to the left at the first fork. At the first house of the hamlet ofLeugenboom(3½ kms.), take the foot-path on the right, from which, 150 yards to the left, can be seen thePommernorLeugenboom Battery, at the edge of the wood. This battery comprisesa 15in. long range gun, which did most of the bombarding of Dunkirk. The gun, protected by armour, is mounted on a steel bridge having a pivot in front, the rear part of the gun travelling along a circular rail-track in a concrete pit nearly 70 feet in diameter. The gun was manœuvred by means of electric motors. On either side are large shelters in reinforced concrete. In front of and below the platform there was an electric generator group. A large shelter of reinforced concrete, on the right, was probably the Post of Commandment. There is a dummy gun emplacement further on.

"Pommern" or "Leugenboom" Battery, near Leugenboom Hamlet.

Concrete Shelter at St. Pierre-Cappelle.

Return by the same road toMoerdijck, turn left beyond the bridge, passthroughMoere(2 kms.), and after crossing the light railway, take the road on the right which follows the railway toLekevillage (5½ kms.). Beyond theruins of the church,take the right-hand road toSt. Pierre-Cappelle(4 kms.), whose church is in ruins.Continue straight along the Nieuport road, noticing the many observation-posts and concrete shelters.Throughout the region crossed by the itinerary, on both sides of the Yser, the ground has been completely devastated by trenches, shelters and bombardments. The villages have vanished. Today these places are the resort of pilgrims.Spermalie(2 kms.) is next reached.

Beyond the bridge, at the fork, take the right-hand road (in bad condition) toMannekensvere.

A few heaps of stones anddébrisare all that remains of Mannekensvere.To visitSt. Georges, cross the Yser by a small wooden foot-bridge, near the place where the Pont de l'Union used to stand. (It is impossible for vehicles to cross the river). Between the Yser and St. Georges, follow a "boyau" (by-trench) tothe first Belgian and German lines, marked by many concrete shelters pierced with loop-holes.

The Site of Mannekensvere village.

Mannekensvere was situated on the right bank of the Yser. The Pont de l'Union, which crossed the Yser 3 kms. from Nieuport, connected it with St. Georges, situated a little further back, on the left bank, along the Nieuport-Bruges Road. These two villages and the bridge were among the principal targets of the Germans. On October 18, 1914, Mannekensvere, an advance-post of the Belgian 2nd Division, was carried by the Germans, but recaptured shortly afterwards by the Belgian 7th Infantry Regiment (Major Evrard). Unfortunately, the German heavy artillery made the position untenable on the following day, and Major Evrard was forced to re-crossthe Pont de l'Union, which he blew up. St. Georges, on the contrary, was captured only on October 23, after the crossing of the Yser by the enemy, and the loss of Groote-Hemme Farm which covered it from the south.

The Inundations near Dixmude.

Return toSpermalie, where turn to the right.

Temporary foot-bridge across the inundations.

The whole of the region now about to be crossed was flooded throughout the war. Today, the waters have receded, leaving it covered with reeds.

Schoore(1 km.), completely razed,is next reached.

Schoore was situated slightly to the right of the Yser, on the road to Bruges. The Belgian 1st Division had its advance-posts there. The village was captured on October 18, 1914, by a battalion of the German IIIrd Corps, after a four hours' bombardment.

The Pont de l'Union, between St. Georges and Mannekensvere.

The Yser at Schoorbakke.

Cross the Yser atSchoorbakke(2 kms.)

This village had a bridge across the Yser, at the end and to the west of the great bend in the river, beginning at Tervaete.

This important strategical point was early threatened by the enemy. After the furious combats of October 15-22, the grand assault was launched on the night of the 22nd. A battalion of the Belgian 4th Infantry Regiment, though practically hemmed in by the enemy, defended it heroically, and only evacuated the position at dawn on the 23rd(see p.12).

Between the Yser and the shelters bordering its left bank, a foot-path on the right leads toGroote-Hemme Farm(1 km. 300.)

Keep straight along the road. The first road on the left leads toStuyvekenskerke(1½ kms.)of which only a few broken walls remain.

To the left of the church there is a temporary footway along the road; today the latter is recognizable only by the stumps of the trees which formerly bordered it.The footway leads to the site on which stoodthe Château of Vicogne,and further on, toTervaete(Photo, p.117.)

From this village, the Yser describes a wide curve towards the west which ends at Schoorbakke. At Tervaete, a bridge spanned the Yser. From the right bank the enemy were able to enfilade and even attack the Allies' defences on the left bank, in the rear, and effect a crossing of the river at that point. This explains the frequency and fierceness of the German attacks on Tervaete, which was first lost then recaptured on October 22, 1914, being finally captured by the Germans the next day(See p.12).

From Stuyvekenskerke, return to the road previously followed, turning left towardsPervyse. Shortly before reaching Pervyse arethe remains of an elevated footway, which formerly crossed the inundated ground.After crossing what used to be the permanent way of the Dixmude-Nieuport railway, the village ofPervyseis reached (3½ kms.)The railway embankment formed the boundary of the inundated area, and was fortified. Shelters andgraves are still to be seen all the way along. There was an observation-post on the top of the railway-station, to the left of the road.

Temporary Bridge at Tervaete, on the impassable road to Stuyvekenskerke, in 1919.

Pervyse, in ruins, was made famous by the heroic resistance of the French Marines who beat off the enemy's fierce onslaughts of October and December 1914.

The houses bordering the road at the entrance to the village were turned into machine-gun blockhouses, thus barring the way.

Ramscappelle Church.

Beyond the church is a crossing; the road on the right leads toRamscappelle(4½ kms.)which played an important part in 1914. On October 30, 1914,a fierce German thrust ended in the capture of the village—already on the point of being inundated—from the Belgian 5th and 6th Infantry Regiments. The loss was one of the greatest importance, as no lines of resistance had been prepared in the rear. The recapture of Ramscappelle was therefore an indispensable if very difficult operation.(See p.15.)

Caeskerke Church (August 1917).

The left-hand road leads toDixmude.Caeskerke(5½ kms.), a station on the Dixmude-Nieuport railway, is next reached.The Headquarters of Admiral Ronarc'h were established there in October 1914, and it was this fact which caused it to be bombarded by the Germans, whose shells quickly reduced it to ruins.

Beyond Caeskerke, cross the Yser; before reaching the bridge, on the left, along the riverside, isa trench with numerous shelters, known as the "Boyau de la Mort" (Death Trench). It was enfiladed by machine-guns posted in the flour-mill on the opposite bank of the Yser(on the right, near the bridge), which the Germans had converted into a fortress.(Photo p.124.)

The "Boyau de la Mort" (Death Trench).See p.19. In the background:Dixmude.

The tourist next reachesDixmude(2½ kms.), arriving at the Grand' Place.

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