History

From the 11th century until August 1914, an old stone church stood almost on the same site as the current church. It was adjacent to the old fortress of Becquincourt.

The remains of the fortress have disappeared since 1870, leaving behind only the church and the low wall that once separated them.

The Great War begins, and the German army quickly seizes the village before being stopped in its advance. Becquincourt thus finds itself on the front line, alongside Dompierre-en-Santerre. Assevillers, set back, becomes a rear base for the German army, where soldiers come to rest and relax between battles.

The German army has controlled the village for two years. Communication trenches crisscross every corner, and heavy machine guns are hidden at every street corner.
For a week, the French army has been relentlessly bombing to drive out the enemy. This will be the end of the 11th-century church, but the village is liberated, and the French army advances on the front. It was something that no one could have imagined for centuries, but the village was completely destroyed to be liberated from German occupation. Nothing remained of Dompierre-en-Santerre and Becquincourt. The church became a pile of stones, and the area was littered with shells and grenades.
The photos of the church become French again.

It would take twelve years for a brand new church to rise from the ground: ten years of negotiations, development of plans and cost estimates, then two years of reconstruction.
No images from this period exist, but I found the plans, cost estimates, and negotiation documents in the departmental archives of the Somme, in the "R" files for Reconstruction.

The new church of Becquincourt is brand new, like the rest of the village. A new generation of farmers, coming from Picardy and Belgium, settles in Dompierre. However, the church is not well attended.
In the 1970s, Dompierre-en-Santerre and Becquincourt merged to form a single village: Dompierre-Becquincourt. Little by little, the new church of Becquincourt is abandoned in favor of the one in Dompierre, which is more central and larger.

On June 20, 1978, the bishopric gave its approval for its deconsecration, which would be officially enacted on May 19, 1983. A long period of abandonment then began.

Stripped of its sacred function, the former church of Becquincourt gradually sinks into indifference. The years pass, and the once-new walls crack under the effects of time and abandonment.

What was once a place of prayers and hope becomes an empty space, forgotten by all, which slowly fills up to become a dumping ground.