Hulste from the 17th century
In 1618 buys William Vander Canal, lord of Schiervelde and Passchendaele, the glory of the Hulste Harelbeekse chapter.The chapter continues to hold a number of rights. Willemv vander Canal inhabited like his descendants and the castle along the Vliet Brook, close to Bavikhove. Archaeological excavations supplemented by archival research shows that the castle was a brick building with a square city wall. At each corner of the wall stood a tower. Besides a castle stood on the foncier of Schiervelde also one Kasteelhof, an important farm that still exists. A straight alliance drove it up to the village. The Kasteelstraat is still a remnant of. The whole must have been impressive: a fortified castle building, farmyard and farm buildings, orchards and gardens surrounded by a moat system of about 300 to 185 meters.
On July 21, 1628 in Hulste a carbine militia founded. The intention was to defend "own haerstede" and the fulfillment of the mandatory services for the prince. The Koninklijke Sint-Pieters Forests Irish Guild still exists today.
In 1688 the Nine Years' War broke out. Hulste is also not spared: war, grain crisis, malnutrition, disease and heavy loads ravage the population. The birth rate in Hulste decreases, while the death rate goes up. In 1690 there are in the village 20 births and 30 deaths. 1694 resulted in a low: only 13 births and 119 deaths. The population of the village, between February 1694 and December 1695 by 39% decline.
Within the rod of Harelbeke Hulste holds with these figures the 9th of 10 for births and deaths for 6th place on 10. In addition there are a hundred Holly Egyptians during this period leave their village. A small village like Hulste was responsible for the maintenance of armed forces: about 4800 infantry and 600 to 700 riders.
During the 18th century the situation has returned to normal. Hulste was - especially flax producing - farming village with homeworkers. That cottage industry must have flourished relatively well since the village in 1739 in terms of number of masters and servants, the 4th place at 16 positions within the rod of Harelbeke. By the end of the 18th century the village has 1897 inhabitants, or 576 more than in 1765. The population is growing back to normal. The family industry, however, offset by the economic crisis of 1845-1850. Again there famine in our region.
Around 1780 the church was completely renovated. That was urgently needed: the tower was crooked and it rained inside.At the end of the eighteenth century, the priest is a "work and school" on.
Hulste in the twentieth century
Meanwhile Hulste no longer the agricultural and flax village of yesteryear. Statistics of the 70 shows that 84% of the active population employed in industry, commerce and construction, and agriculture only on the 6th place is by 6.5% of the employed. These data clearly show that Hulste a typical border town of the district of Kortrijk has become a mainly residential function for commuters.
