Acquin-Westbécourt

Commune in Hauts-de-France, France

Coat of arms

Location of Acquin-Westbécourt

(2020–2026) Mathieu Pruvost^[1]Area

14.29 km² (5.52 sq mi)Population

(2021)^[2]

795 • Density56/km² (140/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal code

62008 /62380

Elevation60–178 m (197–584 ft)
(avg. 80 m or 260 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Acquin-Westbécourt (French pronunciation: [akɛ̃ wɛstbekuʁ]; Picard: Acuin-Boucourt) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.^[3]

Geography

A village, located 9 miles (15 km) west of Saint-Omer, at the D225 and D208 crossroads. Seven hamlets are found within the commune: Le val d'Acquin, Lauwerdal, Nordal, Le Poovre, Westbécourt, Merzoil et and La Wattine. A large national nature reserve has been created in the area, of great ecological interest.^[4]

History

First mentioned by the name of "Atcona" in the 10th century. Acquin and Westbécourt were joined as a single commune on 1 January 1974.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	639	—
1975	571	−1.59%
1982	559	−0.30%
1990	617	+1.24%
1999	625	+0.14%
2007	665	+0.78%
2012	713	+1.40%
2017	833	+3.16%
Source: INSEE^[5]

Sights

The church of St.Pétronille, dating from the sixteenth century.
The church of St. Eloi at Westbécourt, dating from the Middle Ages.

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ INSEE commune file
^ http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000018217161&dateTexte Décret n° 2008-219 du 5 mars 2008 créant la réserve naturelle nationale de la grotte et des pelouses d'Acquin-Westbécourt et des coteaux de Wavrans-sur-l'Aa (Pas-de-Calais)
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE