{{Short description|Village in West Flanders, Belgium}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = Hoogstade | other_name = | motto = | settlement_type = Village | image_skyline = Alveringem, Hoogstadestraat - 15964 - 1.jpg | image_caption = Saint Lambertus Church | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_map = | pushpin_map = Belgium | pushpin_label_position = right | pushpin_map_caption = Location in Belgium | pushpin_mapsize = 250 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_type2 = Province | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name = {{flagcountry|Belgium}} | subdivision_name1 = Flemish Region | subdivision_name2 = West Flanders | subdivision_name3 = Alveringem | subdivision_name4 = | established_title = | established_date = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | area_footnotes = <ref name="erfgoed"/> | area_magnitude = | area_total_sq_mi = | area_total_km2 = 5.6 | area_land_sq_mi = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_urban_km2 = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | population_as_of = 2024 | population_footnotes = | elevation_max_m = 15 | elevation_max_footnotes = <ref name="erfgoed"/> | elevation_min_m = 4 | elevation_min_footnotes = <ref name="erfgoed"/> | population_total = 354 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_sq_mi = | population_metro = | population_density_metro_km2 = | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | population_urban = | population_density_urban_km2 = | population_density_urban_sq_mi = | timezone = UTC+01:00 (CET) | utc_offset = | coordinates = {{coord|50|58|45|N|2|41|30|E|display=inline, title}} | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Hoogstade''' (formerly '''Hostede''') is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders. Administratively, it is a sub-municipality of Groot-Alveringem within the municipality of Alveringem. Until 1970, Hoogstade was an independent municipality. Hoogstade is largely agricultural and surrounded by farmland.
During World War I, the village saw significant Allied military activity due to its proximity to the Yser Front, but it emerged largely unscathed at the end of the war. The Hoogstade Belgian Military Cemetery contains the graves of Belgian troops killed in action, as well as a few British soldiers.
== History == Hoogstade was originally a lordship, first mentioned in writing as Hostede in 859.<ref name="erfgoed">{{cite web |last1=Delepiere |first1=Anne Marie |last2=Lion |first2=Mimi |title=Hoogstade |url=https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/themas/13995 |website=Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed |publisher=Flemish Government |access-date=12 April 2025|language=nl}}</ref> The village was a parish of the diocese of Thérouanne before 1566, then of Ypres, Ghent, and Bruges.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos">{{cite book |last1=Vandeputte |first1=Omer |last2=Devos |first2=Filip |title=Gids voor Vlaanderen: toeristische en culturele gids voor alle steden en dorpen in Vlaanderen |trans-title=Guide to Flanders: Tourist and cultural guide to all cities and villages in Flanders |date=2007 |publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij |isbn=978-90-209-5963-5 |pages=61–62 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Gids_voor_Vlaanderen_toeristische_en_cul/rKjn0nQrkzcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=hoogstade&pg=PA61 |access-date=12 April 2025 |language=nl}}</ref> In 1578, the first armed meeting and hedge sermon of the ''Geuzen'' (Calvinist nobles) in Veurne-Ambacht took place in the hamlet of Colaertshille, near Hoogstade.<ref name="erfgoed"/><ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/>
French soldiers destroyed Hoogstade in 1794 during the French Revolution.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cultuurpunt.be/ERFGOED/Sint-Lambertuskerk_Hoogstade.htm |title=Sint-Lambertuskerk Hoogstade |trans-title=Saint Lambertus Church Hoogstade |website=Cultuurpunt|access-date=12 April 2025|language=nl}}</ref> The village was left largely untouched during World War I.<ref name="erfgoed"/> On 29 January 1915, a retirement home in Hoogstade built in 1871 was transformed into a field hospital, as it was close to the Yser Front but at a safe distance from artillery bombardments.<ref name="clep">{{cite web|url=https://www.alveringem.be/sociaal-huis/wzc-t-hoge/historiek-rustoord-clep |title=Historiek 'rustoord Clep'|trans-title=History of the 'rest home Clep'|website=Alveringem|access-date=12 April 2025|language=nl}}</ref><ref name="hospital">{{cite web|url=https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/213352 |title=Gedenkplaten Belgian Field Hospital Clep |trans-title=Memorial plaques Belgian Field Hospital Clep|website=Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed |access-date=12 April 2025|language=nl}}</ref> The hospital, with a capacity of 200 beds, was integral to the Allies during the Second Battle of Ypres. A total of 1,320 soldiers died in the hospital.<ref name="hospital"/> Notary and former member of parliament Jozef Clep acquired the building in 1969 and transformed it once again, into the Clep rest home.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/>
Hoogstade was incorporated as a municipality of Alveringem in 1970. It became a sub-municipality of Groot-Alveringem in 1976.<ref name="erfgoed"/>
== Architecture == Hoogstade has a linear layout based on ribbon development, consisting of terraced houses with one or two storeys and tiled roofs (with ridges either parallel or sometimes perpendicular to the street). The houses, mostly built in the 19th and 20th centuries, neatly line the main road, named Hoogstadestraat (Hoogstade Street).<ref name="erfgoed"/>
An open break on the eastern side of the village leads to the Saint Lambertus Church, its surrounding cemetery, and green spaces.<ref name="erfgoed"/> The Saint Lambertus Church was built around 1900.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/> A fire on 20 April 1974 destroyed much of the church, leaving only the late Gothic, 16th-century western tower and the sacristy intact. The neo-Gothic church hall was completely burned down.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/> A new adjacent church was built in 1975, designed by the Kortrijk architect Luc Allaer. The architect L. Holvoet designed the concrete stained glass window. The iron and sandstone design of the western tower gable resembles that of a Romanesque church. A double row of lime trees and a hedge border the churchyard.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/>
A cluster of mostly 19th-century townhouses with front gardens, as well as a large farmhouse (now a pumping station), is located around the church.<ref name="erfgoed"/> Expansive farmland lies to the east and southeast of this area, with several large farms dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries scattered around.<ref name="erfgoed"/><ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/> One farmhouse serves as Hoogstade's open-air museum.<ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/> The hamlet of Hoogstade-Linde lies near the southern boundary of the village.<ref name="erfgoed"/>
The Hoogstade Belgian Military Cemetery is located along Brouwerijstraat, near Hoogstade. It is the final resting place of 805 Belgian soldiers (17 unidentified) and 20 British soldiers. Originally it also contained the graves of 150 French soldiers and a few German graves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/erfgoedobjecten/200641 |title=Belgische militaire begraafplaats Hoogstade |trans-title=Belgian military cemetery Hoogstade|website=Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed |access-date=12 April 2025|language=nl}}</ref>
== Economy == The residents of Hoogstade are mostly involved in local agriculture.<ref name="erfgoed"/><ref name="Vandeputte & Devos"/>
== Demographics == The population of Hoogstade has been steadily decreasing since the 20th century. It had a population of 458 in 1972 and 352 in 1999.<ref name="erfgoed"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.westhoek.be/streekplatform/Tabellen/3.2..htm |title=Arrondissement Veurne |trans-title=District of Veurne |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928072054/http://www.westhoek.be/streekplatform/Tabellen/3.2..htm |access-date=12 April 2025|archive-date=2007-09-28 |language=nl}}</ref> {{As of|2024}}, Hoogstade had a population of 351 residents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deelgemeente Hoogstade in cijfers en grafieken |trans-title=Sub-municipality Hoogstade in figures and graphs |url=https://allecijfers.be/deelgemeente/hoogstade/ |website=AlleCijfers.be |access-date=12 April 2025 |language=nl-BE |date=12 November 2020}}</ref>
== Transport == Hoogstade is on the N8 road.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.viamichelin.nl/web/Kaarten-Plattegronden?address=Hoogstade%2C%20Belgium |title=Hoogstade|website=Via Michelin|access-date=12 April 2025}}</ref>
== Gallery == {{Gallery | mode = nolines | align = center | Canon de 32 modèle 187081 à glissement (2).jpg | Belgian king Albert I (second on the left) and French general François Anthoine (farthest on the left) inspect an artillery piece near Hoogstade, 5 September 1917 | Canon de 32 modèle 187081 à glissement (1).jpg | The artillery piece after it has fired | Belgisch militair kerkhof Hoogstade 2022.jpg | The Hoogstade Belgian Military Cemetery | Bokrijk HoogstadeFarm(70 1) 016 6720.jpg | An old farmhouse, now an open-air museum }}
== References == {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}
{{Belgian municipality Alveringem}}
Category:Alveringem Category:Populated places in West Flanders