Oxelaëre

Oxelaëre Okseloare
region	Hauts-de-France
Department	North
Arrondissement	Dunkerque
Canton	Bailleul
Community association	Flandre Intérieure
Coordinates	50 ° 47 '  N , 2 ° 28'  E Coordinates: 50 ° 47 '  N , 2 ° 28'  E
height	29-103 m
surface	4.72 km 2
Residents	519 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	110 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	59670
INSEE code	59454
Mairie Oxelaëre

Oxelaëre , Dutch Okselare , West Flemish Okseloare is a French municipality with 519 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in the department of Nord in the region of Hauts-de-France . It belongs to the Arrondissement of Dunkerque and to the Flandre Intérieure municipal association founded in 2014 . The residents call themselves Oxelaërois . West Flemish is also spoken in Oxelaëre .

geography

Location of Oxelaëre in the Dunkerque arrondissement

The municipality of Oxelaëre is located in French Flanders in the far north of France, about 13 kilometers east of Saint-Omer and 15 kilometers west of the border with Belgium (municipality of Poperinge ). The south of the 4.72 km² municipal area is largely flat (30 to 40 m above sea level), while the north lies in the area of ​​the Monts des Flandres (West-Vlaams Heuvelland / West Flemish hill country). The municipality has a share on the southern slope of the 176 m highest elevation of this hilly country and all of Flanders - the Mont Cassel (Kasselberg). Smaller brooks arise on the Kasselberg and rise up as source rivers in the Peene Becque . The south of the municipality is drained by the Bornhol Becque .

In addition to the closed settlement image of the core village, there are a few hamlets in the municipality of Oxelaëre (including La Bergeronnette , Ferme Sainte-Aldegonde ) and scattered individual farms. In addition, a narrow strip of settlement east of the road from Cassel to Saint-Omer belongs to Oxelaëre, directly adjacent to Bavinchove. The area is characterized by pasture farming and the complete lack of forest areas with the exception of small orchards in the north.

Oxelaëre's neighboring communities are Cassel in the north and east, Hondeghem in the south-east and Bavinchove in the south-west and west.

history

The village of Oxelaëre was built on the Roman road to the English Channel (section Cassel - Aire-sur-la-Lys ). This is where the Château de la Motte-aux-Bois , the favorite castle of the Lords of Cassel, was built.

A part of Oxelaere was given by Robert the Friesian , Count of Flanders at the end of the 11th century, to the Saint-Pierre chapter in Cassel. Other parts of today's municipality were divided between various local lordships, including the lords of Schoebecque and Ochtezeele .

The parish village of Oxelaëre was bequeathed to the Lords of Schoebecque by royal decree in the late 18th century . The head of the family, François Lenglé, was knighted in Versailles in April 1759 as a reward for services rendered.

Oxelaëre remained in the hands of the Lenglé Schoebecque family until the French Revolution . Ecclesiastically, the village was part of the diocese of Ypres .

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2017
Residents	508	571	515	436	383	362	466	519
Sources: Cassini and INSEE

Culture and sights

Buildings

• St. Martin Church
• Saint-Michel chapel
• Oratory : the Lady Chapel was built in 1949 by Monsieur l'Abbé Denève as thanks for the extensive sparing of the village during the Second World War, despite fierce fighting in the immediate vicinity
• former Templerhof
• former hermitage ( l'Ermitage )
• Wayside crosses

• 

  Former court of the Templars, today the production site for the cheese Boulet de Cassel

• 

  Residential houses in the village center

• 

  Oratorio

• 

  Cassel train station on the border between Bavinchove and Oxelaëre

• 

  Boulet de Cassel cheese produced in Oxelaëre

• St. Martin Church
• 

  Southeast side and cemetery

• 

  Church portal

• 

  Southwest side

• 

  Relief of King David

folklore

In Oxelaërel, as in other places in northern France and Belgium, there is the tradition of giant processions ( Géants ). The giants can be seen at carnival time and at many other regional festivals. In 2006 the European Festival of Giants took place in Steenvoorde . Since 2005, the performances have been carried out by UNESCO under the title Processions of Giants and Dragons from Belgium and France as masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity . The Géant figure by Oxelaëre is “Fiacre le jardinier” ( Fiacre the gardener ), a 3.50 m high and 50 kg heavy giant doll that is carried by one person.

Economy and Infrastructure

Agriculture still plays an important role in Oxelaëre. There are 16 farms in the municipality (cereal, vegetable and fruit growing, dairy farming, poultry farming), as well as some small craft and service companies. A product known beyond the Flanders region is the cheese Boulet de Cassel , which is produced in Oxelaëre. The cheese is made from raw milk from Flemish Red cows. The milk is processed daily and is not cooled. The cheese matures in the cellar for eight weeks with three rotations per week.

Oxelaëre is somewhat remote from the national traffic flows, but is connected to the surrounding cities and communities by a well-developed road network in all directions. The train station in the city of Cassel is located on the municipal boundary between Oxelaëre and Bavinchove on the railway line from Dunkirk via Armentières to Lille . This railway line is crossed by the LGV Nord ( Paris - Eurotunnel ) in the municipality of Oxelaëre . In Steenvoorde , nine kilometers east of Oxelaëre, there is a motorway connection to the A25 Autoroute from Dunkirk to Lille.

literature

• Le Patrimoine des Communes du Nord. Flohic Editions, Volume 1, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-84234-119-8 , pp. 473-474.

supporting documents

1. ↑ History summary on www.oxelaere.fr ( Memento of the original of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on August 1, 2015 (French) 
2. ↑ Oxelaëre on cassini.ehess.fr
3. ↑ Oxelaëre on insee.fr
4. ↑ Fiacre le jardinier on www.oxelaere.fr ( Memento of the original of September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (French) 
5. ↑ Farms in Oxelaëre (French)

Web links

Commons : Oxelaëre  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Monuments historiques (objects) in Oxelaëre in the base Palissy of the French Ministry of Culture
• Population statistics