Argences

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.

Argences
Commune
General view of Argences
Coat of arms
Location of Argences
Argences
Argences
Coordinates: 49°07′37″N 0°09′59″W
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentCalvados
ArrondissementCaen
CantonTroarn
IntercommunalityVal ès Dunes
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Dominique Delivet
Area
1
9.76 km2 (3.77 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
3,718
 • Density380/km2 (990/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.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Argençais or Argençaises[2]

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

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

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
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

List of Successive Mayors[7]

Mayors from the French Revolution to 1929
FromToNamePartyPosition
17901791Pierre Michel Gouget
17911792André Pierre Duval-Destin
17921794Robert Lesage
17941795Nicolas Guillaume Moulin
17951796Pierre Robert Caillouie
17961797Joseph Bornet
17971798Jean Mathieu Duport
17981799Joseph Bornet
17991799Nicolas Guillaume Moulin
17991800André Halbique
18001806Pierre Duval-Destin
18061808Pierre Robert Cailloue
18081812François Huillard
18121815Ferdinand Desessarts
18151826Nicolas Moulin
18261828Jean Baptiste Honore
18281830Jean Duport
18301840Modeste Ancelle
18401841Germain Lecharpertier
18411843Jean Doublet
18431859Modeste Ancelle
18591871Armand Laville
18711874Germain Lecharpertier
18741874Armand Laville
18741896Dominique Lecomte
18961908Joseph Dalgot
19081912Désiré Lepetit
19121921André Gourmez
19211929Clément Michel
Mayors from 1929
FromToNamePartyPosition
19291945Jean Hamel
19451947Albert Frilley
19471953Jean Hamel
19531954René Maginier
19541965André Plantain
19651970Michel Jourdan
19701971Georges Lemesle
19711979Alfred Rouillard
19791989Gilbert Deru
19891995Jean-François Hamel
19952001Gilbert Deru
20012008Bernard DufourRetired ETF officer
2008CurrentDominique DelivetHeadmaster

(Not all data is known)

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
20043,372—    
20063,484+3.3%
20073,495+0.3%
20083,506+0.3%
20093,517+0.3%
20103,544+0.8%
20113,564+0.6%
20123,596+0.9%
20133,619+0.6%
20143,642+0.6%
20153,691+1.3%
20163,687−0.1%

Economy

The newspaper L'Echo de la Muance was published in Argences from 1896 to 1897.[8]

Sites and Monuments
  • The Chateau of Fresne (1651) is registered as an historical monument.[9]
  • 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.
  • General view of Argences
  • General Leclerc Square and the church
  • The Moulin de la Porte
  • The entrance to the Tuileries de Beauvais

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
  • 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.
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See also

Notes

    References
    1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
    2. Inhabitants of Calvados (in French)
    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. 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)
    9. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111015 Chateau of Fresne (in French)
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