Watten (; nl, Waten, meaning "

ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

" as in "river-crossing") is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Nord

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

.INSEE commune file
/ref> Its inhabitants are called "Wattenais".

Geography

Watten is located at the limit of the

French Flanders French Flanders (french: La Flandre française) is a part of the historical County of Flanders in present-day France where a dialect of Dutch was or still is traditionally spoken. The region lies in the modern-day region of Hauts-de-France and r ...

historical county. However, the local Dutch dialect (

French Flemish French Flemish (French Flemish: , Standard Dutch: , french: flamand français) is a West Flemish dialect spoken in the north of contemporary France. Place names attest to Flemish having been spoken since the 8th century in the part of Fland ...

) is virtually extinct. The neighbouring villages are Wattendam (commune of

Holque Holque (; from Flemish; ''Holke'' in modern Dutch spelling) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of t ...

Millam Millam () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. A chapel dedicated to the Mercian Saint Mildrith (Mildred), Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, who is said to have stayed there, exists in Millam, but is privately owned and not easil ...

Serques Serques (; vls, Zegerke) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Serques lies on reclaimed marshes 5 miles (8 km) north of Saint-Omer, on the D214 road. Population Places of int ...

Éperlecques Éperlecques (; ; pcd, Éparlecques) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography It is a farming commune comprising eight hamlets, all found within the regional nature reserve of the Caps et ...

and

Wulverdinghe Wulverdinghe is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes ...

. While Watten belongs to the Nord ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'', it is bordering the

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

''département''. The village is crossed by the rivers Aa and Colme.

Climate

Watten has a

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Cfb''). The average annual temperature in Watten is . The average annual rainfall is with November as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Watten was on 25 July 2019; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 14 January 1982.

Population

Heraldry

Sights

The village is famous for its old ruined abbey, and for its mill, which was restored in the 1990s. These two buildings are located on the "Mountain of Watten" (72 metres high). Its church dates from the thirteenth century. Nearby is the

Blockhaus d'Éperlecques The ''Blockhaus d'Éperlecques'' ( en, Bunker of Éperlecques, also referred to as "the Watten bunker" or simply "Watten") is a Second World War bunker, now part of a museum, near Saint-Omer in the northern Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, ...

, a massive German bunker site from World War Two, wrecked by Allied bombing. It is now a museum.