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Origin and history

The Saint-Nicolas de Wasquehal Church, located in the Northern Department, is a Gothic building built between 1877 and 1879 to replace a 16th century church that had become too small. Its construction, decided by the municipal council in 1876, was led by architects Henri de Baralle and Jean-Baptiste Maillard, on the plans of Jean-Baptiste Leroy. The lack of initial funding delayed the completion of the bell tower and façade, which were gradually completed until 1929. The first stone was laid in 1877, but elements such as arrow or entry were only added much later, due to budgetary constraints.

The present church is the fourth built on this site since the 9th century. A first chapel, mentioned in 835 in an act of donation by Louis le Pieux, was replaced in the 13th century by a church dedicated to Saint Maur, built thanks to the collective effort of the inhabitants carrying stones with wheelbarrows. This church was destroyed in 1482 by the troops of Louis XI, then rebuilt in 1511 by Robert de Ranchicourt and dedicated to Notre-Dame and Saint Nicholas. This third building, restored several times, was finally demolished in 1876 to give way to the present church.

The church of St. Nicholas houses a rich heritage, including reliquaries of martyrs from the Theban Legion, St. Christopher and St. Fortunat, as well as 19th-century stained glass windows illustrating the life of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. Its organ, inaugurated in 1989 after a major restoration, is a German masterpiece, with 2,800 pipes. The building underwent several restorations, notably in 2014 and after the storm of 2020, which partially damaged its ceiling.

The bell tower, initially separated from the church for lack of means, was incorporated in 1900 after further work. The bells, some of which date from the 19th century, were partially requisitioned during the First World War. The church plays a central role in local religious life, with five daily services and wedding celebrations. It is also a place of memory, home to burials and historical family vaults.

The history of the church is marked by political and religious tensions, as in 1906, when the clergy and the faithful resisted the inventory of state property, or in 1917, when the Germans requisitioned the building for Protestant officers. Today, it remains a symbol of the cultural and spiritual heritage of Wasquehal, classified in the Dean of Roubaix of the Archdiocese of Lille.

The archaeological excavations of 1992, carried out during the construction of the metro, revealed the foundations of the first chapel of the ninth century and medieval tombs, including those of children accompanied by funeral objects. These discoveries confirm the former religious vocation of the site, occupied without interruption for more than a thousand years.

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