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In 1589, following numerous complaints, the magistrate of Saint-Omer had to install a new clock on the water gate known as the Dunkirk gate, where a wooden man struck the hour. The work was entrusted to Antoine Enguerrand, who may have been the son of Pierre Enguerrand, who was commissioned in 1555 to build another heritage curiosity, the astrolabe clock of the Notre-Dame cathedral. Named Mathurin or Jacquemart, it became the emblem of the city and underwent several repairs or reconstructions in 1688, in 1720 and even replaced in 1896. It was the most successful version of the Mathurin that we know, with a very elegant form: top hat, red frock coat and golden buttons, strawberry and varnished shoes. All this finery helped represent the wealth of the city at the time.
Unfortunately, it did not withstand the bombings of World War II in 1940. The entire campanile was in fact destroyed and the remains were razed permanently in 1963 and the campanile was never rebuilt. The statue of the Mathurin was found in very poor condition and preserved in the Sandelin museum and this was the end of the bell ringer who had officiated for 3 centuries.
Mathurin in Saint-Omer
