Argences

Argences

General view of Argences

Coat of arms
Argences

Coordinates: 49°07′37″N 0°09′59″W / 49.1269°N 0.1664°W / 49.1269; -0.1664Coordinates: 49°07′37″N 0°09′59″W / 49.1269°N 0.1664°W / 49.1269; -0.1664
Country France
Region Normandy
Department Calvados
Arrondissement Caen
Canton Troarn
Intercommunality Val ès dunes
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2020) Dominique Delivet
Area1 9.76 km2 (3.77 sq mi)
Population (2009)2 3,517
 • Density 360/km2 (930/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 14020 / 14370
Elevation 2–74 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.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Argences is a French 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 inhabitants of the commune are known as Argençais or Argençaises[1]

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.[2]

Geography

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.[3]

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

Neighbouring communes and villages

 Émiéville Janville Saint-Ouen-du-Mesnil-Oger
Bellengreville Canteloup
   Argences  
Vimont Moult Croissanville

History

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.[4]

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.[5]

Heraldry

 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

List of Successive Mayors[6]

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 2020 Dominique Delivet Headmaster

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2009 the commune had 3,517 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.[Note 1]

Population Change (See database)
1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851
1,283 1,205 1,425 1,453 1,574 - 1,577 1,542 1,505
1856 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896
1,553 1,406 1,403 1,258 1,360 1,442 1,451 1,388 1,441
1901 1906 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954
1,417 1,394 1,447 1,219 1,322 1,220 1,205 1,108 1,269
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2009 -
1,584 1,802 2,215 3,000 3,048 3,241 3,372 3,517 -

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Economy

The newspaper L'Echo de la Muance was published in Argences from 1896 to 1897.[7]

Sites and Monuments

Argences Picture Gallery

Activities and events

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

Notable people linked to the commune

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

  1. ↑ Inhabitants of Calvados (French)
  2. ↑ Argences in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom (French)
  3. ↑ Google Maps
  4. ↑ Jean Renaud, The Vikings and Normandy, éditions Ouest-France université, 1989. (French)
  5. ↑ The double derailment at Moult-Argences and the hostages of Calvados, Claudine Cardon-Hamet (French)
  6. ↑ List of Mayors of France (French)
  7. ↑ Jean Quellien et Christophe Mauboussin, Newspapers from 1786 to 1944, the adventure of the press in Basse-Normandie, Cahiers du Temps, 1998. ISBN 2911855132 (French)
  8. ↑ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111015 Chateau of Fresne (French)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argences.
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