Godewaersvelde (; French Flemish: Godsvelde; ) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France, near the Belgian border.INSEE commune file
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. 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.
Population
Heraldry
Etymology and evolution of name The name of the commune originally meant either "Godafritha's Heath" or "Godefried Fields", in old Flemish/Dutch. In modern French Flemish (Frans-Vlaams) it is Godsvelde, or Godewaersvelde (in the Franse Westhoek area of Nord Department). The modern Dutch name is Godewaarsvelde.
The name has been recorded as: 1295-1296: Gaudefroit camp 1300: Godeverdesvelde 1318: GodefroichampSources: Jozef van Overstraeten1 see also La Voix du Nord, News / Hazebrouck / Page 4 / Article 2 Edition Sunday, April 24, 2005 1918: Goedesversvelde
During the First World War, British soldiers nicknamed the town "Gerty Wears Velvet",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 and "God". A false etymology, dismissed by linguists and historians, has claimed that Godewaersvelde meant "God bless our fields".
Famous people
The painter Nicolas Ruyssen (born in Hazebrouck on 26 September 1757) founded the Mont des Cats abbey. He died in Godewaersvelde on 7 May 1826 and is buried in the abbey church.
See also Communes of the Nord department Mont des Cats
Gallery
References