| Stuivekenskerke | |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 7,34 |
| Population As Of: | 1 January 2007 |
| Population Total: | 160 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Postal Code: | 8600 |
Stuivekenskerke is a district of the town of Diksmuide, in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Located on the Yser river, until 1970 it was an independent municipality and then merged and became a sub-municipality of Diksmuide. Stuivekenskerke, built in a polder, has an area of 7.34 km2 and had 160 inhabitants in 2007.
In Roman times, the area consisted of mudflats and salt marshes, and already had a human presence. Floods coming in from the North Sea in the 4th century, and gradual flooding of the coastal area, rendered the area unfit for habitation. In 1161, the Norbertines of Vicoigne in Raismes became the owners of a sheepfold on a slightly elevated area surrounded by mudflats and marshes. This settlement would become a monastic domain, ; the area was encircled with dikes and became a fairly important center for sheep farming. Between 10 and 20 monks lived at the monastery, on a site 133 ha in size.
The first mention of the place name is from 1219; it says "parochia de Stuvinskerke in loco qui Vatha dicitur" ("the parish of Stuvinskerke in the place called Vate"). The "-kerke" ending indicates that the name can only have come into existence after the Christianization of the area, after the 11th century.[1] The name supposedly comes from the Germanic "Stuvinas karika", or "Stuvin's church". Similar to other polder parishes, the name then comes from a local landowner, who founded a church and named it for himself.[2]
On 18 March 994, the parish of Vladslo had been bequeathed by Radbod, bishop of Noyon and Tournai, to Saint Peter's Abbey, Ghent, and that abbey had patronage over Stuivekenskerke until 1802. This gift was confirmed in 1111, in a text that indicated that Stuivekenskerke was one of the daughter parishes (along with Keiem, Leke, Beerst, and Schore) that came from the mother parish Vladslo. Saint Peter was the patron saint. The Stuivekenskerke parish, though west of the Yser, was part of the Diocese of Tournai until 1559, when it was transferred to the Diocese of Bruges; neighboring villages on that side of the river belonged first to the Diocese of Thérouanne, and then to the Diocese of Ypres.[1]
During the Ancien Régime, Stuivekenskerke belonged to the viscounty Veurne-Ambacht.[1]
In the vicinity of Tervate and Stuivekenskerke, small fortifications were built by the Spaniards at the end of the 16th century, as a defense line against looting by reformists from Ostend. When the Siege of Ostend ended in 1604, these small fortresses soon disappeared.
The church had already received a new tower in 1572, and in 1643 it received a new northern aisle. At that time, the hamlet of Tervate also had a presence: on the Ferraris maps from around 1770–1778, this hamlet near a bridge over the Yser was of the same size as the center of Stuivekenskerke—which itself was accessible only from the north, via a single dead end country road. Several farms were nearby, some of which enclosed. The Viconia Monastery had a double wall and a mill. With the end of French rule, in 1794, the Norbertines were expelled and the property was sold. The local De Grave family first leased the terrain, and finally bought it.
At the end of the 19th century, the village moved, as a result of the construction of a new church. A restoration of the village's St. Peter's Church was to be too much work and so around 1866-1872 mayor J. B. de Graeve decided to have a new church built, two kilometers north of the village center, in the vicinity of his estate, the Viconia. In the following years, a new village center soon arose around this church, with a square, a school, a rectory, an inn and a grocery store. The old church was demolished, except for the tower, and the old village center decayed into a small hamlet, with a few small houses and a farm, called "Oud-Stuivekenskerke".
The village was hit hard in World War I. The battle for the Yser, the edge of the last part of Belgium not occupied by the Germans, started on 18 October 1914, and Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort came under attack the next day. The day after, the German army reached the, and threatened to overrun allied positions and get straight to Dunkirk. By 25 October, the Germans had broken through the line, and the Belgian government decided to flood the entire area. When advanced German troops found water rising up behind their lines, they retreated behind the Yser. They took Diksmuide on 10 November, and when the first snow fell, they dug in, starting a lengthy trench war.
There were two important Belgian positions north of Diksmuide. Dodengang, a system of trenches where the Belgian and German armies were only meters away, was just north of Diksmuide, on the Yser. Next was Onze-Lieve-Vrouwehoekje ("the little corner of Mary"), at Out-Stuivekenskerke, a little over 1 kilometer from the Yser; because of the flooding, this had become an island. This important Belgian outpost ("The Great Guard South") was manned from December 1914 to May 1915 by the artillery observer Edouard Lekeux (Aarlen, 1884 - Luik, 1962), a reserve lieutenant and a Franciscan minorite, who moved to the Goemaere family farm after German artillery had leveled the church tower.[3] A plaque in his honor was put up in 1963 in Oud-Stuivekenskerke. The Germans retreated from the area on October 15, 1918.
The St. Peter's Church, which had been destroyed in the war, was rebuilt in 1925, as was the Viconia estate. The Oud-Stuivekenserke landscape is dominated by the "Our Lady of Victory" chapel (1924-1925, by Veurne architect Camille Van Elslande), the ruined church tower from 1572, and the many military remembrances of World War I. The entire area was declared protected in 1993.
After World War 2, clay was extracted in Stuivekenskerke, between the Viconia estate and the Yser; these clay pits, the, now form a 35 ha nature reserve with seven ponds. The area is a haven for birds, and at least 195 different species are found here.[4]
Formerly an independent municipality, in 1970 Stuivekenskerke merged with Pervijze, Lampernisse, and Oostkerke, and became sub-communes in the municipality of Diksmuide.[5]
ImageSize = width:700 height:373PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:400TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = justifyScaleMajor = gridcolor:b increment:50 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:a increment:10 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:c
BarData= bar:1806 text:1806 bar:1816 text:1816 bar:1830 text:1830 bar:1846 text:1846 bar:1856 text:1856 bar:1866 text:1866 bar:1876 text:1876 bar:1880 text:1880 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1947 text:1947 bar:1961 text:1961 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1981 text:1981 bar:1991 text:1991 bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2007 text:2007
PlotData= color:d width:20 align:left
bar:1806 from:0 till: 329 bar:1816 from:0 till: 337 bar:1830 from:0 till: 361 bar:1846 from:0 till: 382 bar:1856 from:0 till: 391 bar:1866 from:0 till: 293 bar:1876 from:0 till: 362 bar:1880 from:0 till: 362 bar:1890 from:0 till: 379 bar:1900 from:0 till: 349 bar:1910 from:0 till: 346 bar:1920 from:0 till: 149 bar:1930 from:0 till: 252 bar:1947 from:0 till: 282 bar:1961 from:0 till: 203 bar:1970 from:0 till: 147 bar:1981 from:0 till: 166 bar:1991 from:0 till: 150 bar:2001 from:0 till: 157 bar:2007 from:0 till: 160
PlotData=
bar:1806 at: 329 fontsize:s text: 329 shift:(-10,5) bar:1816 at: 337 fontsize:S text: 337 shift:(-10,5) bar:1830 at: 361 fontsize:S text: 361 shift:(-10,5) bar:1846 at: 382 fontsize:S text: 382 shift:(-10,5) bar:1856 at: 391 fontsize:S text: 391 shift:(-10,5) bar:1866 at: 293 fontsize:S text: 293 shift:(-10,5) bar:1876 at: 362 fontsize:S text: 362 shift:(-10,5) bar:1880 at: 362 fontsize:S text: 362 shift:(-10,5) bar:1890 at: 379 fontsize:S text: 379 shift:(-10,5) bar:1900 at: 349 fontsize:S text: 349 shift:(-10,5) bar:1910 at: 346 fontsize:S text: 346 shift:(-10,5) bar:1920 at: 149 fontsize:S text: 149 shift:(-10,5) bar:1930 at: 252 fontsize:S text: 252 shift:(-10,5) bar:1947 at: 282 fontsize:S text: 282 shift:(-10,5) bar:1961 at: 203 fontsize:S text: 203 shift:(-10,5) bar:1970 at: 147 fontsize:S text: 147 shift:(-10,5) bar:1981 at: 166 fontsize:S text: 166 shift:(-10,5) bar:1991 at: 150 fontsize:S text: 150 shift:(-10,5) bar:2001 at: 157 fontsize:S text: 157 shift:(-10,5) bar:2007 at: 160 fontsize:S text: 160 shift:(-10,5)
Sources: NIS, www.westhoek.be and Stad Diksmuide. Note: 1806 -1991, numbers from the census; 2001 and 2007: inhabitants on January 1.