Sanctuary Wood

Located just east of Ypres, Sanctuary Wood stands as a stark reminder of the horrors of World War I in the Ypres Salient. Initially a place of refuge for Allied soldiers to rest and recuperate, by 1917 the woods were bang on the Front Line and trenches had been built for the troops to live in and fight from. At the end of the war, the farmer who owned the land returned and decided to preserve a length of tunnels and trenches – one of the few sections that were not ploughed over and returned to farming land – in which bullet holes are still clearly visible, along with the tree stumps blasted during shelling and the inadequate corrugated iron shelters for the soldiers. A small museum stands nearby, displaying munitions and weapons removed from the trenches, a British Army cooking wagon, and some graphic 3D images of life in the trenches. As the inevitable tragic result of the fierce battles around Ypres, several war cemeteries are nearby, including Sanctuary Wood Cemetery, designed by Sir Edwin Luytens and immaculately kept with 2,000 war graves standing in neat rows, and the Hill 62 Memorial honoring the Canadian participation in defending Ypres. 

Practical Info

Sanctuary Wood is the three km (1.75 miles) east of Ypres and best accessed by car along the N8 to Canadalaan.