Estaires
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Estaires
Stegers | |
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Dunkerque | |
Canton | Hazebrouck |
Intercommunality | Flandre Lys |
Government | |
• Mayor (2020–2026) | Bruno Ficheux[1] |
Area 1 | 12.82 km2 (4.95 sq mi) |
Population (2021)[2] | 6,496 |
• Density | 510/km2 (1,300/sq mi) |
Demonym(s) | Estairois, Estairoises |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code | /59940 |
Elevation | 12–19 m (39–62 ft) (avg. 16 m or 52 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Estaires (French pronunciation:
The town gives its name to a type of chicken bred in the area: the Estaires chicken.
Geography
Estaires is located in
History
The town stands on the site of a Roman Gaul city called Minariacum which features in the Antonine Itinerary, in the area of the town now known as Pont d'Estaires. Its earlier name is probably Celtic, but the etymology is obscure. It was positioned strategically on the road linking Castellum Menapiorum (Cassel) to the capital of the Atrebates peoples, Nemetacum Atrebatum (Arras), at the narrowest crossing of the Lys.
Converted to Christianity in the ninth century by St Vaast, the city took the name of Stegers from the Old Dutch steger meaning a berth or mooring. It was part of the County of Flanders from its inception as was most of the Lys plain and was a lordship manor.
The Lys formed a language border; to the north they spoke Flemish and to the south Picard (Romance Flanders). The town's name is the romanised Estaires, but the Estairois spoke both. In the Middle Ages the town developed through textile production. However it also suffered from the many conflicts between the Flemish, French, English, and also the Burgundians, Austrians and Spaniards.
Flanders was strongly
The town became French in 1769 following the exchange of several enclaves with the Netherlands. At that time it was a flourishing textile producer, as was Armentières.
The industrial base of the town was destroyed during the
With the subsequent economic crisis in the textile sector, the town never really recovered. From a peak of over 7,000 residents in the 1870s, the population plunged to under 4,000 in 1920. By 2015 it had recovered to 6,378.
Population
Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
---|---|---|
1968 | 5,003 | — |
1975 | 5,350 | +0.96% |
1982 | 5,317 | −0.09% |
1990 | 5,434 | +0.27% |
1999 | 5,691 | +0.51% |
2007 | 5,966 | +0.59% |
2012 | 5,935 | −0.10% |
2017 | 6,379 | +1.45% |
Source: INSEE[4] |
Heraldry
The arms of Estaires are blazoned : Per fess argent and gules, a cross moline counterchanged.
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Principal buildings
There are virtually no buildings dating from before 1918; the town was completely destroyed by German bombing on the 9 and 10 April in 1918, then by the allies until October 1918.
The
The church of St Vaast was also built between 1927 and 1930 by Dumas on the location of a previous church dating from 1858 by Charles Leroy, a notable architect of the region. It is a
See also
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ INSEE commune file
- ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE