Nœux-les-Mines

Nœux-les-Mines
Coat of arms of Nœux-les-Mines Coat of arms
Nœux-les-Mines
Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region Nœux-les-Mines
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardy
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Béthune
Canton	Canton of Nœux-les-Mines
Intercommunality	Nœux et environs
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Jacques Villedary
Area1	8.84 km2 (3.41 sq mi)
Population (2006)2	12,256
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	62617 / 62290
Elevation	23–76 m (75–249 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.

Nœux-les-Mines is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.

Geography

Nœux-les-Mines is situated some 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Béthune and 25 miles (40.2 km) southwest of Lille, at the junction of the D937 and D65 roads. As the name of the town itself might imply, it was established as a coal mining centre, however with the decline of the mining industry in the area Nœux-les-Mines has evolved to become a light industrial and farming town.

History

Nœux-les-Mines was first recorded in the 4th century as Vitri. It was destroyed in 882 by the Normans, before being rebuilt in the 10th century, when it became known as Noewe.

It was part of the small province of Gohelle, itself part of the province of Artois, and was mainly an agricultural town with associated small activities incidental to farming, such as flour mills, sugar mills and breweries.

The name was transformed from Noewe to Nœux-lez-Béthune over the years, but became Nœux-les-Mines in 1887, a few years after the discovery of coal deposits in 1850, when the population numbered a mere 1100 inhabitants. From the opening of the first pit in 1851 the town experienced a strong surge in population up until 1962. All the pits were closed down between 1956 and 1968.

In 1996, the commune transformed one of its old mine ramps into an artificial ski slope, which operates throughout the year. Within this same sports complex (Loisinord) is a boating lake.

Population

Population history

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006
14,113	13,325	13,567	13,166	12,351	11,966	12,256
Census count starting from 1962: Population without duplicates

Places of interest

• The church of St. Martin, dating from the nineteenth century.
• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery.
• The coal mining museum.
• A modern church dedicated to St.Barbe.
• An eighteenth-century farmhouse.
• An oil-pressing mill.

Notable people

• Footballer Raymond Kopa, star of Real Madrid and the French national team that reached the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden.

Twin towns

• La Clusaz, Haute-Savoie, in the French Alps.

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file

External links

• The CWGC graves in the churchyard
• The CWGC cemetery
• Nœux-les-Mines on the Quid website (French)