Argences (original) (raw)

Commune in Normandy, France

Argences
Commune
General view of Argences
Coat of arms
Location of Argences
ArgencesShow map of FranceArgencesShow map of Normandy
Coordinates: 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	CC Val ès Dunes
Government
• Mayor (2023–2026)	Marie-Françoise Isabel[1]
Area1	9.76 km2 (3.77 sq mi)
Population (2021)	3,848
• Density	394/km2 (1,020/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
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.

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.[2]

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.

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]

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.

List of Mayors[6]

Mayors from 1929

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Argençais or Argençaises in French.[7]

Historical population

The newspaper L'Echo de la Muance was published in Argences from 1896 to 1897.[9]

Sites and monuments

[edit]

• The Chateau of Fresne (1651) is registered as a Monument historique.[10]
• 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.

Argences picture gallery

[edit]

• 
  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

[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.
• Communes of the Calvados department

1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 30 November 2023.
2. ^ Argences in the Competition for Towns and Villages in Bloom Archived December 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine (in French)
3. ^ Google Maps
4. ^ Jean Renaud, The Vikings and Normandy, éditions Ouest-France université, 1989. (in French)
5. ^ The double derailment at Moult-Argences and the hostages of Calvados, Claudine Cardon-Hamet (in French)
6. ^ List of Mayors of France (in French)
7. ^ Le nom des habitants du 14 - Calvados, habitants.fr
8. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
9. ^ 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)
10. ^ Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111015 Chateau of Fresne (in French)

• Argences on the Community of Communes website (in French)
• Argences on the 1750 Cassini Map

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Argences.