Ploegsteert (; ; ) is a
village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...
of
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
and a district of the
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Comines-Warneton, located in the
province of Hainaut,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
.
It is the most westerly settlement of
Wallonia
Wallonia ( ; ; or ), officially the Walloon Region ( ; ), is one of the three communities, regions and language areas of Belgium, regions of Belgium—along with Flemish Region, Flanders and Brussels. Covering the southern portion of the c ...
. It is approximately north of the French border. Created in 1850 on part of the territory of
Warneton, it includes the hamlet of Le Bizet, which is the border with France (there is also a hamlet named "Le Bizet" in France). It is largely francophone, with
facilities for Dutch speakers.
In late 1914 and early 1915, the nearby
Ploegsteert Wood was the site of fierce
WWI fighting. Today there are numerous cemeteries and memorials, including the
Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) CWGC Cemetery and the
Berks CWGC Cemetery Extension with the
Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, which commemorates more than 11,000 British and Empire servicemen who died outside the
Ypres Salient and have no known grave. From January to May 1916,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
served in the area as Commanding Officer (Lieutenant-Colonel) of the 6th Battalion of the
Royal Scots Fusiliers. Another nearby burial ground is the
Lancashire Cottage Cemetery.
As part of
Comines-Warneton, Ploegsteert was declared a
sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inte ...
of
Wolverton
Wolverton ( ) is a constituent town of Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban ar ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, England, in 2006; this was partly initiated through the finding of letters from a 16-year-old soldier from Wolverton named Albert French. He is buried in
Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery, just outside the village.
The village is home to a carpentry museum.
References
Former municipalities of Hainaut (province)
Comines-Warneton
{{Hainaut-geo-stub