Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | |
|---|---|
 The bell tower of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | |
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | |
  Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise  Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise | |
| Coordinates:50°22′47″N2°20′06″E / 50.3797°N 2.335°E /50.3797; 2.335 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Arras |
| Canton | Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise |
| Intercommunality | CC Ternois |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2022–2026) | Danielle Vasseur[1] |
Area 1 | 8.24 km2 (3.18 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 4,759 |
| • Density | 578/km2 (1,500/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62767 /62130 |
| Elevation | 82–149 m (269–489 ft) (avg. 87 m or 285 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (French pronunciation:[sɛ̃pɔlsyʁtɛʁnwaz]ⓘ,lit. 'Saint Pol onTernoise';West Flemish:Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas;Picard:Saint-Po-su-Térnoèse) is acommune in thePas-de-Calaisdepartment in northern France. It is the seat of thecanton of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise.[3]
Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise lies in the middle of the Pas-de-Calais department, on the riverTernoise. It lies 26 km southwest ofBéthune, and 32 km west ofArras, the prefecture of Pas-de-Calais.Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise station is served by regional trains towards Lille, Arras, Béthune and Étaples.
Thecounty of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, usually referred to as just Saint-Pol, was originally a stronghold of theCounts of Flanders and was established as a county in the late 9th century. When the county passed out of the family of the Flemish counts, it remained subject to the Count of Flanders as hisvassals until 1180. It became subject to France, thenArtois (1237–1329), then France again until it ceased to exist as a county and was annexed to France in 1702.
Saint-Pol was first controlled by the Flemish counts, then by the family known as Campdavaine from early in the 11th century. In 1205 the county passed to theseigneurs ofChâtillon through marriage, and remained with this dynasty until 1360 when it passed to the Luxembourg dynasty. Around 1487 the county passed to the Capetian-Bourbon-Vendôme dynasty through marriage, then to the Longueville-Neuchâtel dynasty from around 1563. In 1702 it came under direct rule of France.
In theMiddle Ages, several of the Counts of Saint-Pol were active in theCrusades.
On 7 November 1920, the remains of four unidentifiable, fallen British soldiers disinterred from the battlefields at Aisne, Arras, the Somme and Ypres were brought to the town's chapel. There, Brigadier-General Louis John Wyatt of the North Staffordshire Regiment, aided by Lieutenant-Colonel EAS Gell, selected one to be carried toWestminster Abbey to be re-buried in theTomb of the Unknown Warrior. The remaining three bodies were removed and reburied in the military cemetery[4] at Wyatt's headquarters at St Pol.[5]
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 5,318 | — |
| 1975 | 5,717 | +1.04% |
| 1982 | 5,752 | +0.09% |
| 1990 | 5,215 | −1.22% |
| 1999 | 5,220 | +0.01% |
| 2009 | 5,125 | −0.18% |
| 2014 | 5,056 | −0.27% |
| 2020 | 4,870 | −0.62% |
| Source: INSEE[6] | ||
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