Sint-Pieter

Without a doubt, St Peter's Church is the oldest known building in Oostkamp: there is written mention of it as early as 961, which means it was already worth mentioning then. In the 11th century, Robrecht the Frisian, Count of Flanders recognised several churches in the region and also here in Oostkamp (Orscamp = horse camp, perhaps a military facility near the city of Bruges).

After the assassination of Charles the Good and in the subsequent battles for Flemish territory, the church was burned by the French in 1128. The building was rebuilt and completed in 1175. It was a cross church with tower on the crossing, built of fieldstone.

At the end of the 16th century, the church, its possessions and the surrounding area had been plundered and destroyed by the religious wars, and the church building served as accommodation for the priest and inhabitants. The windows were boarded up and even a chimney was bricked up... In the early 17th century, the church was gradually restored and the inhabitants were ordered to remove their personal furniture.

Numerous extension and restoration works followed one another in the later centuries, with the last major intervention being to move the altar to a fixed platform under the crossing tower.  As expected, a lot of interesting finds came to light, including several painted graves with, among others, a stone inscription 'Below lies the tombstone of the deceased Lords d'Oostcamp'.

Interesting things to admire are plentiful.  We mention, among others, the 32 saints depicted in the stained-glass windows, two large stained-glass windows referring to the victims of WWI and to Our Lady of Lourdes, a 15th-century statue of the Virgin Mary (now under restoration), a monumental wooden communion bench from 1718, confessionals (one from 1662) in addition to numerous valuable church treasures in silverware and a large painting by Jan Maes (1658) and another by Jan Garemijn (1785), at the back of the church.

The church owns two organs, of which the Van Eynde organ from 1717 has been listed and fully restored. Organ concerts are organised annually in August. The Pels organ in the high choir came in 2018 and it is used for regular services.

Outside the church, some tombstones were bricked in and on the north side, a limited lapidary refers to the large, cleared graveyard around the church. In the western facade, the original delineation of the then cruciform church can still be read in the joints.

KIKIRPA: Photo-library online