The Templars of Nieuwpoort and the Duvetorre

Little remains of the Templar presence in Nieuwpoort, a fishing town on the Belgian coast. A bequest from 1239, a mural uncovered behind a staircase in 1819, and a tower whose destruction is almost always misdated. What actually survives of this story once the errors are stripped away?

A Bequest of 1239 
That year a lady named Ogilve, widow of Gilles Quathar, whose name recalls the Cathars though no established link exists, left several properties in the territory of Nieuwpoort to Willard Molensteen, commander of the Temple house of Ypres [1]. It is one of the few documented traces of Templar holdings on this stretch of coast, alongside the better known Tempelhof at Slijpe, with which the Nieuwpoort tower was said in local tradition to be joined by an underground passage.

A Tower With Many Names 
What survives is the Saint Laurent Tower, known locally as the Duvetorre. The name itself is disputed. Some trace it to the doves, duiven, that nested inside, others to the devil, duivel, recalling the legend of the witch Jeanne Panne who supposedly met him at its foot [2]. The label Templar Tower fares no better under scrutiny. The standard Flemish heritage inventory states plainly that the tower is ten onrechte Tempelierstoren genoemd, wrongly called the Templar Tower [2], a caveat that rarely survives into the popular retellings.

Murals Behind a Staircase 
In 1819 an old staircase inside the tower was demolished, revealing ancient wall paintings. The discovery prompted J.L. Kesteloot to write his Notice sur une peinture ancienne découverte à Nieuport, a text that reasserted the historical ties between Nieuwpoort and the Order and recalled the hostility between the Templars and King Philip the Fair [1]. 

Not 1941, but 1914
Most retellings claim the tower was destroyed in 1941 by the guns of the battleship Tirpitz. Both the date and the cause are wrong. The tower fell during the First World War, while serving as an Allied observation post, shelled by German artillery, quite possibly a battery that carried the name Tirpitz at the time, not the Second World War battleship, which never operated off the Belgian coast [3]. Since 1983 the ruin has been a protected monument, so it still stands, reduced to a brick skeleton but not erased [3].

Templars at the Golden Spurs

Kesteloot also linked the quarrel between the Order and Philip the Fair to the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302, in which Flemish militias, reinforced by Walloon contingents, broke one of the most powerful armies in Europe. French reference works confirm that Templars fought among the Flemish ranks that day [4], though the extent of their part, like that of the knight Willem van Bonem, remains open to further study.

This blog is original work by TemplarsNow based on an earlier version of this post and an additional AI-assisted quick scan on the topic. References and further reading, all links verified July 27, 2026 but papers not always studied in detail: [1] Saint André, Charles. "Les Templiers de Nieuport." La Belgique des Quatre Vents, May 2012; [2] Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed. "Sint-Laurentiustoren." Inventaris Onroerend Erfgoed, object ID 16608; [3] "Sint-Laurentiustoren." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia; [4] "Bataille des Éperons d'or ou bataille de Courtrai." Larousse Encyclopédie. The illustration shows the Templar or Devils Tower (Duvetorre) at Nieuwpoort, Belgium, around 1908 so before its destruction in 1914. Source belgique-insolite-et-occulte.blogspot.com, Fair Use intended.

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