Argences

Argences
General view of Argences General view of Argences
Coat of arms of Argences Coat of arms
Argences
Location within Lower Normandy region Argences
Coordinates:
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.

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Argences is a French commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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	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.

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)

File:Population - Municipality code 14020.svg

Population of Argences

Economy

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

Sites and Monuments

• The Chateau of Fresne (1651) is registered as an historical monument.
• 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

• Argences.JPG

  General view of Argences

• FranceNormandieArgencesPlaceLeclercEtEglise.jpg

  General Leclerc Square and the church

• Argences moulin de la Porte.JPG

  The Moulin de la Porte

• Argences tuileries.JPG

  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.

See also

• Communes of the Calvados department

External links

• Argences on the Community of Communes website (French)
• Argences on Lion1906
• Argences on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Argences on the INSEE website (French)
• INSEE (French)