History

Early in the 12th century, Ypre & The Battlefieldss became one of the most important cities in Flanders on account of the cloth industry. Not only was it a production area, but - being built on the banks of the little river 'Ieperlee' - the city was also strategically placed on an important trade route between Bruges and Lille (now in Northern France). It was at this time that the Lakenhalle (cloth hall) and cathedral, still in existence today, were built.

The 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century saw Ypres & The Battlefields at the height of its political and economic power; in 1260, when it had become the third most important city in the region after Ghent and Bruges, the population stood at 40,000, while that of Oxford, by comparison, was roughly 4,200. Cloth from Ypres & The Battlefields was exported widely - to North Africa, the Middle East and even to Russia - and the city had to turn to England to supply additional wool so that local production could keep up with demand.

The 14th century, however, marked the end of Ypres & The Battlefields prosperity and it never really regained its economic importance. It was not until World War I that the town once again fell under the spotlight. Ypres & The Battlefields was situated right in the middle of the frontline between the Germans and the Allied troops and, as a result, was almost completely destroyed.

It is probably for the horrors of Passendale that Ypres & The Battlefields role in the Great War is most remembered, particularly in Great Britain. On 31st July 1917, the third battle of Ypres & The Battlefields started with the British aiming to break through the German lines and push on to the coastal ports. One hundred days later, on 10th November, after the most ferocious fighting of the war, the British troops reached Passendale, but the human cost was terrible: 400,000 soldiers on both sides had been killed and at least another hundred thousand had been wounded.

Many of the British who lost their lives are buried at Tyne Cot (Tyne refers to the river in the north of England, Cot is an abbreviation of the cottage that stood on the land prior to the war), the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world: it contains almost 12,000 gravestones, with the names of another 34,957 troops who went missing in action etched into a stone memorial.

Since the war, Ypres & The Battlefields has been sympathetically rebuilt.

more Flanders history»