Jump to content

Argences

Coordinates: 49°07′37″N 0°09′59″W / 49.1269°N 0.1664°W / 49.1269; -0.1664
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Argences
General view of Argences
General view of Argences
Coat of arms of Argences
Location of Argences
Map
Argences is located in France
Argences
Argences
Argences is located in Normandy
Argences
Argences
Coordinates: 49°07′37″N 0°09′59″W / 49.1269°N 0.1664°W / 49.1269; -0.1664
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentCalvados
ArrondissementCaen
CantonTroarn
IntercommunalityVal ès Dunes
Government
 • Mayor (2023–2026) Marie-Françoise Isabel[1]
Area
1
9.76 km2 (3.77 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
3,848
 • Density390/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
14020 /14370
Elevation2–74 m (6.6–242.8 ft)
(avg. 44 m or 144 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Argences (French pronunciation: [aʁʒɑ̃s] ) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. It is in the urban area of Caen, 15 kilometres from the city.

The commune has been awarded one flower by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.[3]

Geography

[edit]

Argences is some 15 km south-east of Caen and 1 km north of Moult. Access to the commune is by the D37 road from Saint-Pair in the north passing through the commune and the town and continuing to Moult in the south. The D41 road goes east from the town to join the D613 to Caen at Vimont. The D80 road also goes north-east from the town to Saint-Pierre-du-Jonquet. Apart from the town there are also the hamlets of Le Fresne to the north, Le Mesnil in the north-east, and Le Croix de Moult south of the town. The commune consists of a large residential area in the town with a large forest in the north-east (the Bois de Saint-Gilles) with small scattered forests but mostly farmland.[4]

The Muane river flows through the town and the commune from south to north.

History

[edit]

In 989, Richard I of Normandy donated land to the Abbey of Fécamp for the curates of Mondeville and Argences. From that date, the domain of Mondeville was managed as an ecclesiastical fief by the Barony of Argences. During the ducal era the wines of Argences were highly regarded.[5]

In 1912, the large tile factory at Fresne built a railway line 4 km long connecting Argences to Moult-Argences Station in Moult on the Paris-Cherbourg line. The line from Argences was closed in 1931 and the nearest station is now Moult-Argences (TER Basse-Normandie).

On 16 April 1942, a group of resistance fighters derailed a Maastricht-Cherbourg train two kilometres from Moult-Argences station in Airan commune causing 28 dead and 19 wounded - all German soldiers. On 30 April of that year, in revenge for German retaliation, a new derailment of the same train killed 10 German soldiers and wounded 22 others.[6]

Heraldry

[edit]
Arms of Argences
Arms of Argences
Blazon:

Gules, 3 laurel branches Vert, 1 pale in chief, 2 stems in base saltirewise between 3 mitres of Or the fanons of the one in base debruised by the laurel leaves.



Administration

[edit]

List of Mayors[7]

Mayors from the French Revolution to 1929
From To Name Party Position
1790 1791 Pierre Michel Gouget
1791 1792 André Pierre Duval-Destin
1792 1794 Robert Lesage
1794 1795 Nicolas Guillaume Moulin
1795 1796 Pierre Robert Caillouie
1796 1797 Joseph Bornet
1797 1798 Jean Mathieu Duport
1798 1799 Joseph Bornet
1799 1799 Nicolas Guillaume Moulin
1799 1800 André Halbique
1800 1806 Pierre Duval-Destin
1806 1808 Pierre Robert Cailloue
1808 1812 François Huillard
1812 1815 Ferdinand Desessarts
1815 1826 Nicolas Moulin
1826 1828 Jean Baptiste Honore
1828 1830 Jean Duport
1830 1840 Modeste Ancelle
1840 1841 Germain Lecharpertier
1841 1843 Jean Doublet
1843 1859 Modeste Ancelle
1859 1871 Armand Laville
1871 1874 Germain Lecharpertier
1874 1874 Armand Laville
1874 1896 Dominique Lecomte
1896 1908 Joseph Dalgot
1908 1912 Désiré Lepetit
1912 1921 André Gourmez
1921 1929 Clément Michel
Mayors from 1929
From To Name Party Position
1929 1945 Jean Hamel
1945 1947 Albert Frilley
1947 1953 Jean Hamel
1953 1954 René Maginier
1954 1965 André Plantain
1965 1970 Michel Jourdan
1970 1971 Georges Lemesle
1971 1979 Alfred Rouillard
1979 1989 Gilbert Deru
1989 1995 Jean-François Hamel
1995 2001 Gilbert Deru
2001 2008 Bernard Dufour Retired ETF officer
2008 2023 Dominique Delivet LREM Headmaster
2023 2026 Marie-Françoise Isabel

Population

[edit]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Argençais or Argençaises in French.[8]

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1968 1,802—    
1975 2,215+2.99%
1982 3,000+4.43%
1990 3,048+0.20%
1999 3,241+0.68%
2007 3,495+0.95%
2012 3,596+0.57%
2017 3,718+0.67%
Source: INSEE[9]

Economy

[edit]

The newspaper L'Echo de la Muance was published in Argences from 1896 to 1897.[10]

Sites and monuments

[edit]
  • The Chateau of Fresne (1651) is registered as an historical monument.[11]
  • The Church of Saint-Jean was destroyed by bombing in 1944 and only the wall of the apse remains.
  • The Moulin de la Porte (Mill of the door) where the wheel is powered by the Muance.
  • The Lavoir (Public laundry) in the Rue de la Morte eau.
  • The old Tuileries de Beauvais tile factory.
[edit]

Activities and events

[edit]

The association of rural families organizes dance classes for children and adults (beginners, modern dance, Fit'n dance).

Notable people linked to the commune

[edit]
  • Dominique Lemesle (1951-2007): Assistant Football Referee - 1st French Division (1979-1982)
  • François Fayt (1946-): composer.
  • Yohann Eudeline (1982-), French footballer who played at the local football club until 2000.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 30 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ Argences in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom Archived December 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
  4. ^ Google Maps
  5. ^ Jean Renaud, The Vikings and Normandy, éditions Ouest-France université, 1989. (in French)
  6. ^ The double derailment at Moult-Argences and the hostages of Calvados, Claudine Cardon-Hamet (in French)
  7. ^ List of Mayors of France (in French)
  8. ^ Le nom des habitants du 14 - Calvados, habitants.fr
  9. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  10. ^ Jean Quellien et Christophe Mauboussin, Newspapers from 1786 to 1944, the adventure of the press in Basse-Normandie, Cahiers du Temps, 1998. ISBN 2911855132 (in French)
  11. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111015 Chateau of Fresne (in French)
[edit]