Already in 1856 there has been some talk of a separation. Mr Tanghe wrote that Mr senator Cassiers de Pattyn built with his castle a presbytery and a building that could be used as a school. They did aspect that he would build a church too. You could say Mr and Mss Cassiers de Pattyn are the founders of the separation Klerken – Houthulst. In 1857 there was built a church and that made the separation of the parishes a fact. Mr Eugeen de Groote, successor of Mr Cassiers de Pattyn, thought he had to finish the separationwork. As he after the war was appointed to be Commissioner of the Destructed Departments, this was rather easy for him. On 27-Febr-1926 the separation line was appointed by the Municipal Council and on 27-Apr-1926 it was found good by the District Council. The law of 11-Apr-1926 finished the separation. With this separation Klerken lost the most of his superficies and his inhabitants. But it lost also the less important part. The reason why the Klerkenaars (=inhabitants of Klerken) didn't object against the separation was probably that the grounds of the forest are less valuable. In the year 1977 there was a fusion that made Klerken a part of Houthulst, so now it is the opposite: Klerken, a part of Houthulst instead of Houthulst, part of Klerken....
An actual map of Klerken.
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