Witches Walking Route

Beselare has been known as a witch village for generations. Many of the local stories are set in the 17th century and were later written down by folk writers and local historians, particularly Edward Vermeulen, better known as Warden Oom. Thanks to those stories, names such as Sefa Bubbels, Tanneken Vanhulle, Dokke van d’Heulebeke and Calle Bletters are still closely linked with the village today.

The walk starts on the village square beside the church. The theme begins immediately with the Heksenmonument and Heksenwaag. Behind the church, you will also find the Magische Kruidentuin, a small garden filled with herbs, symbols and references to the old legends.

The opening section still runs through the village streets. Small witch figures and other references appear here and there, but for me the walk really begins to improve once you leave the built-up area behind.

Beyond Beselare, the landscape gradually opens up around De Reutel. The long, straight roads and avenues are reminders of the former Beselare castle estate.

During the 17th and 18th centuries, a geometric network of avenues was laid out around the castle. Parts of that pattern can still be recognised in the road network today. One of the main avenues once connected the De Reutel area directly with the estate.

The castle itself gradually disappeared around the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century. By 1813, drawings mainly showed what was left of the ruins. The last surviving buildings and structures were lost during the First World War.

The countryside is far more open now, but those long straight lines still give an idea of how strongly the former estate once shaped the area.

Around Slangenmeers, the witch stories return to the foreground. According to local tradition, witches gathered here at night to dance and sing.

One of the best-known figures is Tanneken Vanhulle. The stories describe her as a wealthy witch who lived near Slangenmeers. After a small box of snake ointment was supposedly found in her possession, followed by sightings of a large snake nearby, a legend began to grow that Tanneken could turn herself into a snake.

Other tales mention nightmares, swarms of insects and strange events around her home.

Dokke van d’Heulebeke had an equally unsettling reputation. According to legend, she lived near the Mispelaarbeek and could predict the future. After her death, other stories linked her to the devil.

As with the other witches of Beselare, these are pieces of folklore passed down through generations rather than events that can be treated as established historical fact.

The rural tracks continue through a landscape that took on a completely different role during the First World War.

From 1916 onwards, German troops built an extensive network of railways and narrow-gauge lines in the area to move supplies and construction materials towards the front. Pionierpark In De Ster was one of the larger depots in the sector. Supplies arrived mainly by rail from Roeselare and Menen before being sent onwards to the German positions. Much of this activity came to an end during the British offensive of 1917.

Farther along, the route passes the area around Navegheer. This old lordship, later known as the Schaapsgoed, remained a separate estate within Beselare for centuries.

This is also where local tradition places Calle Bletters. She was said to be the daughter of a blacksmith and to use most of her magic on horses. After they had been shod, she would supposedly stroke their backs with her left hand while whispering spells from a large parchment book.

The horses were then said to become difficult to control, and the forge eventually became known as the “bewitched smithy”. Shortly before her death in 1747, Calle was said to have thrown her spell book into the fire.

The route then gradually returns towards Beselare across open fields and several unpaved tracks. This second half also brings some of the best views across the rolling countryside.