Laires

Laires
Laires
Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region  Laires
Coordinates: 50°32′28″N 2°15′23″E / 50.5411°N 2.2564°ECoordinates: 50°32′28″N 2°15′23″E / 50.5411°N 2.2564°E
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Saint-Omer
Canton	Fauquembergues
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes du Canton de Fauquembergues
Government
• Mayor	Bernadette Franche
Area^1	8.64 km^2 (3.34 sq mi)
Population (2006)^2	306
• Density	35/km^2 (92/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	62485 / 62960
Elevation	140–190 m (460–620 ft) (avg. 182 m or 597 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Laires is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

A village situated 15 miles (24 km) south of Saint-Omer, on the D95 road.

Its surrounded by the common Beaumetz-lès-Aire, Erny-Saint-Julien and Laires. Bomy is located 19 km southwest of Saint-Omer's largest city around.^[1]

Population

Historical population of Laires

Year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
Population	335	347	302	314	337	297	306
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

History

In 734, Laires was called "Wilbert", after its owner. The spelling of the name has changed over the centuries from Larae, Laris, Lares, Laire and Lare, to become Laires by the eighteenth century. In 1115, Baldwin VII, Count of Flanders, made a gift of the village to the abbey of St Saviour at Ham. In January 1478, a band of soldiers from the Burgundian garrison at Renescure terrorized the area around Laires. Instead of helping people to fight the "French enemy" they looted the village. Against the Spanish, the commune suffered again. In 1537 the area was completely devastated. In 1542 and 1543, the village was looted several times and fourteen French houses were burned down.

Places of interest

• The church of St.Martin, dating from the fifteenth century.
• The war memorial, from 1921.

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file

1. "Annuaire-Mairie"

External links

• Laires on the Quid website (French)