16th century, as a defense line against looting by reformists from Ostend. When the Siege of Ostend ended in 1604, these small fortresses soon disappeared. The church had already received a new tower in 1572, and in 1643 it received a new northern aisle. At that time, the hamlet of Tervate also had a presence: on the Ferraris maps from around 1770-1778, this hamlet near a bridge over the Yser was of the same size as the center of Stuivekenskerke—which itself was accessible only from the north, via a single dead end country road. Several farms were nearby, some of which enclosed. The Viconia Monastery had a double wall and a mill. With the end of French rule, in 1794, the Norbertines were expelled and the property was sold. The local De Grave family first leased the terrain, and finally bought it. 19th century, the village moves north At the end of the 19th century, the village moved, as a result of the construction of a new church. A restoration of the village's St. Peter's Church was to be too much work and so around 1866-1872 mayor J. B. de Graeve decided to have a new church built, two kilometers north of the village center, in the vicinity of his estate, the Viconia. In the following years, a new village center soon arose around this church, with a square, a school, a rectory, an inn and a grocery store. The old church was demolished, except for the tower, and the old village center decayed into a small hamlet, with a few small houses and a farm, called "Oud-Stuivekenskerke". 20th century The village was hit hard in World War I. The battle for the Yser, the edge of the last part of Belgium not occupied by the Germans, started on 18 October 1914, and Diksmuide and Nieuwpoort came under attack the next day. The day after, the German army reached the , and threatened to overrun allied positions and get straight to Dunkirk. By 25 October, the Germans had broken through the line, and the Belgian government decided to flood the entire area. When advanced German troops found water rising up behind their lines, they retreated behind the Yser. They took Diksmuide on 10 November, and when the first snow fell, they dug in, starting a lengthy trench war. There were two important Belgian positions north of Diksmuide. Dodengang, a system