Oye-Plage
Encyclopedia
Oye-Plage is a commune
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France
.
, on the junction of the D219 and the D940. The commune is nearly a mile from the English Channel
.
The Vikings landed here in 879 with the aim of invading Moriny.
In the county of Boulogne until 1259, Oye belonged to the counts of Artois until 1346, the English until 1558 and to the Kings of France since that date, under the name of Oye county.
It was at Oye chateau that a peace treaty was signed on July 6, 1439 between France and England.
There is nothing left of the castle and adjacent forts which were tasked to block the road against first the Flemish
and then the Spanish
.
The only witness to the past, the church tower, restored in 1953, was built by the English in 1553 under the reign of Mary Tudor.
In the church, dedicated to Saint-Médard, were buried many English killed during the siege of Calais in 1346, and the dead of the French army killed while taking Calais at the Battle of Gravelines (1558)
.
The port gradually silted-up and was finally closed in the eighteenth century.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Oye-Plage lies about 7 miles (12 km) east of CalaisCalais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, on the junction of the D219 and the D940. The commune is nearly a mile from the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
.
History
The commune has ancient origins. The name is first recorded as Ogia in the 8th century, which means 'island' (< Protogermanic *aujō), was used for those islands that survived high tides.The Vikings landed here in 879 with the aim of invading Moriny.
In the county of Boulogne until 1259, Oye belonged to the counts of Artois until 1346, the English until 1558 and to the Kings of France since that date, under the name of Oye county.
It was at Oye chateau that a peace treaty was signed on July 6, 1439 between France and England.
There is nothing left of the castle and adjacent forts which were tasked to block the road against first the Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
and then the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The only witness to the past, the church tower, restored in 1953, was built by the English in 1553 under the reign of Mary Tudor.
In the church, dedicated to Saint-Médard, were buried many English killed during the siege of Calais in 1346, and the dead of the French army killed while taking Calais at the Battle of Gravelines (1558)
Battle of Gravelines (1558)
The Battle of Gravelines was fought on July 13, 1558 at Gravelines, near Calais, France. It occurred during the 1547–1559 war between France and Spain....
.
The port gradually silted-up and was finally closed in the eighteenth century.
Population
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2317 | 2326 | 2482 | 4479 | 5678 | 5882 | 5844 |
| Census count starting from 1962: Population without duplicates | ||||||
Places of interest
- La Tour Penchée : A blockhouseBlockhouseIn military science, a blockhouse is a small, isolated fort in the form of a single building. It serves as a defensive strong point against any enemy that does not possess siege equipment or, in modern times, artillery...
built in the shape of a church steeple. Its purpose was to deceive the Allied airmen who were bombing targets in Germany, as they often used visual cues for directions. This false tower could be confused with that of the town situated a few kilometres further south. When the war ended, they tried to destroy the building with explosives. It was not enough. Now the tower leans about twenty degrees, hence its name (penchée = leaning). - The modern church of St.Médard.
- The remains of the château, which was subject to many invasions, (by the Comte de Flandres, the Duke de Bourgogne etc.) and was razed in 1558.
- A brick-built windmillWindmillA windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
. - The 391 hectares Nature Reserve of the Platier d'Oye, created in 1987.
- The 9 km beach.
- The war memorial, built in 1920.