We have investigated the low temperature magnetic properties of Dy2Fe2Si2C by using magnetisation, specific heat, x-ray diffraction, neutron powder diffraction and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements over the temperature range 1.5 K-300 K. Dy2Fe2Si2C exhibits two magnetic transitions at low temperatures: an antiferromagnetic transition at [Formula: see text] K and a spin-reorientation transition at [Formula: see text] K. The magnetic structure above T t can be described with a propagation vector [Formula: see text] with the ordering of the Dy magnetic moments along the monoclinic b-axis whereas on cooling below T t the Dy moment tips away from the b-axis towards the ac-plane. We find that the spin-reorientation in Dy2Fe2Si2C is mainly driven by the competition between the second-order crystal field term B 20 and the higher-order terms, in particular B 40 and B 64.