Clerques

Clerques

Klarke
Clerques Klarke
Commune
	The Sower and Saint-Barthélémy’s church
	Coat of arms
	show Location of Clerques
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	Coordinates: 50°47′37″N 1°59′43″E / 50.7936°N 1.9953°ECoordinates: 50°47′37″N 1°59′43″E / 50.7936°N 1.9953°E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Saint-Omer
Canton	Lumbres
Intercommunality	Pays de Lumbres
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Aurélien Dommanget
Area 1	6.39 km2 (2.47 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2018)	327
• Density	51/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	62228 /62890
Elevation	37–173 m (121–568 ft) ; (avg. 47 m or 154 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Clerques (West Flemish: Klarke) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Geography[]

A small farming village situated 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Saint-Omer, on the D217 road, nestled in the valley of the river Hem at the foot of the Boulonnais, which is a wooded ridge at this point. Two hamlets, Audenfort to the west and Le Hamel to the East, make up the remainder of the commune.

Population[]

Historical population of Clerques
Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
Population	184	186	180	209	215	213
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

History[]

The recent history of the village was marked by the flooding of the river, on August 13, 2006. The stone bridge in the village centre, built in 1862, was destroyed after exceptional rainfall upstream at Licques. The river, usually quiet, had accumulated such a speed it turned into an uncontrollable torrent.^[2]

Places of interest[]

The church of St. Barthélemy, dating from the thirteenth century.
The chapel of St. Théresa
Audenfort mill, which ceased to operate in the 1970s, and is now converted into a hotel-restaurant
The former flour mill at Hamel, now a hydro-electric generator.
The new symbol of the village: The statue of the Sower, which symbolizes the friendship between the town of Clerques and the Belgian village of Klerken.