Godewaersvelde

Godewaersvelde (French pronunciation: [ɡɔdvaʁsvɛld]; French Flemish: Godsvelde) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France, near the Belgian border.[3]

Godewaersvelde
Commune
The old railway station and church
The old railway station and church
Coat of arms of Godewaersvelde
Coat of arms
Location of Godewaersvelde
Godewaersvelde is located in France
Godewaersvelde
Godewaersvelde
Godewaersvelde is located in Hauts-de-France
Godewaersvelde
Godewaersvelde
Coordinates: 50°47′41″N 2°38′39″E
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
DepartmentNord
ArrondissementDunkerque
CantonBailleul
IntercommunalityCC Flandre Intérieure
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Antoine Vermeulen[1]
Area
1
11.89 km2 (4.59 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2020)[2]
2,070
 • Density170/km2 (450/sq mi)
DemonymGodewaersveldois (es)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
59262 /59270
Elevation27–163 m (89–535 ft)
(avg. 41 m or 135 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Heraldry
Arms of Godewaersvelde
Arms of Godewaersvelde
 The arms of Godewaersvelde are blazoned :
Barry gules and vair.



Etymology

The name of the commune means "Godafritha's Heath" or "Godefried Fields".

British soldiers called it "God" during the First World War. A popular story claims that Godewaersvelde means "God bless our fields", but it appears to be unfounded, and is dismissed by linguists and historians.

Another WWI troop nickname was "Gerty Wears Velvet".[4]

  • 1295-1296: Gaudefroit camp
  • 1300: Godeverdesvelde
  • 1318: Godefroichamp[5]
  • 1918: Goedesversvelde (in WWI news in newspapers)

Dutch: Godewaarsvelde; Frans-Vlaams: Godsvelde; official French: Godewaersvelde is in Franse Westhoek, in the Nord Department, France. The community has 2000 dwellers. In the place where French Flemish dialect and in the Westhoek becoming known as Godsvelde is spoken.

Location

Godewaersvelde is in northern France along the Belgian border and is in the heart of Flanders, less than half an hour from Lille and Dunkirk. It is one of nine municipalities in the canton of Steenvoorde. Godewaersvelde covers 1189 hectares or nearly 12 square kilometers and is crossed by several county roads: the R & D 948 which connects at the A25 interchange in Poperinge, 139 R & D that leads to Boeschèpe and Eecke, DR 18, which connects Route Méteren to Poperinge.

See also

References
  1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. "Populations légales 2020". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 29 December 2022.
  3. INSEE commune file
  4. Daily Telegraph, Saturday 27 April 1918, reprinted in page 32, Daily Telegraph, Friday 27 April 2018; see English-language names given by WWI troops to places affected by WWI
  5. Sources: Jozef van Overstraeten1 see also La Voix du Nord, News / Hazebrouck / Page 4 / Article 2 Edition Sunday, April 24, 2005
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