Carillon
Starting from 1413 the town invoices mention delivery or repair of an “enghiene met appeelen”, from “eenen man slaende en betekenende de ueren van den daghe”.
The bells were brought from Bruges and Amsterdam by barge to Nieuwpoort. Meanwhile the series of bells in the hall tower was expanded in such a way that around 1680 the complete installation was moved to the town tower, which would never be finished, where the carillon would show up well in a larger campanile.
In 1735 a new one, poured by Pieter Vanden Gheyn from Leuven, replaced this carillon, which was in fact a mixture of various kinds of timbres and consequently could not have been quite melodious. A few years later Georgius Dumery from Bruges supplied some more bells. This carillon was integrated completely in the public life of Nieuwpoort: “Zondag 24 juny 1860 ’s morgens om zes ure zal de kermis door het luiden van de klok, beyaerd spelen, losbranden van het kanon, vercieren der straten en gebouwen, en bevlaggen der schepen in de haven, aangekondigd worden.” ("On Sunday 24th June 1860 in the morning at six the fair will be announced by ringing of a bell, playing of the carillon, shooting of a cannon, decorating of the streets and buildings and beflagged boats in the port.")
The world war 1914-1918 made an abrupt end to it: the carillon tower was dynamited on 17-10-1914 by the Belgian Engineers; only a few pieces of bronze, some damaged bells and the hand protectors of L. Deschieter, the last bell player from the "pre-war" series, have been left.
In 1952, after an interruption of more than 35 years, the carillon tradition has been picked-up again in Nieuwpoort; however, there is a great difference: both the tower, with regard to the architecture, and the dichromatic four octaves carillon, with regard to the bell line and the tuning, deviate considerably from the former one.
The present tower was finished as building and fits in with the style of the church. The series of 67 bells (base e-flat, 1407 kg) was founded by Marcel Michiels Jr., bell founder in Doornik and was tuned according to the Pythagorean tuning. The delicate work was brought to a good end thanks to the supervision of Victor Van Ghysegem, an expert with an international reputation.
This time, the carillon was set up as an instrument in the bell room and not as a decorating element in the campanile any longer, as it used to be in the past, also in Nieuwpoort. In 1992 the whole installation (except for the bells) was renewed by the company Clock-o-Matic from Holsbeek (B), using the newest techniques.
Regularly, carillon concerts are organized.