Cerisy-la-Forêt

Cerisy-la-Forêt (French pronunciation: [səʁizi la fɔʁɛ]) is a commune in the Manche department of Normandy in north-western France. It has a population of 1,036 inhabitants (2019) and possesses an important environmental and architectural heritage.

Cerisy-la-Forêt
The abbey in Cerisy-la-Forêt
The abbey in Cerisy-la-Forêt
Location of Cerisy-la-Forêt
Cerisy-la-Forêt is located in France
Cerisy-la-Forêt
Cerisy-la-Forêt
Cerisy-la-Forêt is located in Normandy
Cerisy-la-Forêt
Cerisy-la-Forêt
Coordinates: 49°11′45″N 0°56′08″W
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentManche
ArrondissementSaint-Lô
CantonPont-Hébert
IntercommunalitySaint-Lô Agglo
Government
  Mayor (20202026) Jean-Pierre Ledouit[1]
Area
1
23.81 km2 (9.19 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2020)[2]
1,035
  Density43/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
50110 /50680
Elevation34–131 m (112–430 ft)
(avg. 84 m or 276 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The area has been occupied since antiquity and is linked to the foundation of the Saint-Vigor Abbey in the early 20th century. The commune comprises several castles (Château de la Boulaye, Château de la Couespellière) and manor houses and is bordered by Cerisy forest.

Geography

The commune is located in the department of Manche, north of the Armorican Massif, east of the Pays saint-lois and west of Bessin. Its area is 23.81 km2.[3] The village is located 13.4 km northeast of Saint-Lô, overlooking the valley of the Elle, and offering an unobstructed panorama over the Cerisy Forest a kilometer away. The Massif Armoricain, of which Cerisy-la-Forêt occupies the extreme north, is a country of dairy farms. The landscapes are composed of meadows, hedges, wooded areas and wetlands. The nearest stations are Gare de Lison and Gare de Le Molay-Littry.

Bayeux is 18 km directly east, Saint-Lô, prefecture of the department, is 14 km to the south-west, and Caen is 42 km to the east.[4]

Geology

The Armorican Massif, to the south-west, is a deposit made up of clays, schists, gravels, and granite. The altitude of the village ranges between 34 meters and 131 meters.[3] The highest point corresponds to the place called "Vieux Graviers", a small hill located at the edge of Cerisy-la-Forêt.

The subsoil of Cerisy-la-Forêt dates from the Proterozoic geological period.

Climate

The climate is oceanic, with an annual rainfall close to 900mm.[5] Rains are fairly frequent throughout the year but more abundant in autumn and winter due to disturbances from the Atlantic Ocean. Rarely intense, they are often drizzles.

The average temperature is 10 °C.[6] In winter, the average temperature oscillates between 1 °C and 7 °C. There are between 30 and 40 days of frost per year. In summer, the average temperature is around 20 °C.

Cerisy-la-Forêt does not have a weather station; the closest one is that of Caen-Carpiquet.

Name

Arms of Cerisy Abbey

'Cerisy-la-Forêt' is often referred to as 'Cerisy'. The name is derived from the Latin word cerasus meaning "cherry",[7] though Auguste Vincent holds that it is named for a Gallo-Roman by the name Carisius or Charisius[8]

History

Ancient history

Cerisy was first settled as an oppidum, the ruins of which remain outside the town.[9] The Romans built a fort to guard the Roman road that ran through the valley.[10][11][12]

Middle Ages

The earliest mention of Cerisy-la-Forêt dates back to the 6th century, when Gaul began to Christianize. Vigor, one of the first evangelists in the region, received from Volusian, the local lord, twenty-five villages, to thank him for having rid the region of a "horrible serpent that put to death men and animals". Around 510 AD he built a monastery dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul on the site of what had been a Druid holy site.

In the 9th century, Neustria was invaded by the Vikings, who in 891 plundered Bayeux, and Vigor's monastery was destroyed. King Charles III the Simple gave Rollo the countries of the lower Seine in the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911, and then Bessin in 924.[13]

The battle of Formigny

Cerisy became an important market town under the Normans, who build Cerisy Abbey. The abbey went on to consist of forty-eight parishes and eight priories, including two in England, (Sherborne and Peterborough). Dependent on the Holy See, Cerisy maintained close relations with monasteries in Mont-Saint-Michel, Saint-Ouen, Jumièges, Le Bec-Hellouin, Fécamp and of course Caen.

In 1337, the dynastic rivalries between the Valois and the king of England precipitated the Hundred Years' War, which plunged the country into misery, aggravated by epidemics of plague. The Abbey of Saint-Vigor de Cerisy was fortified, and a garrison settled there. In 1418, Richard de Silly, knight and captain of the abbey, was obliged to cede the abbey to the King of England. However, after the victory of the constable de Richemont over the English at the Battle of Formigny in 1450, Normandy returned definitively to the kingdom of France.

Modern history

Two American soldiers helping a young farmer from Cerisy-la-Forêt: This photo appeared on the front page of The New York Times in June 1944.

In 1660, a maréchaussée garrison was based in the village, and a prison established.[14]

During the Second World War, Cerisy-la-Forêt sheltered refugees from Cherbourg.[15] On 2 July 1944 General Eisenhower and Omar Bradley came to encourage the 2nd Infantry Division at the Château de la Boulaye.

Battle of the Mill of Rondelles

On 12 June 1944 the 2nd Infantry Division was ordered to cross the river. When they reached the east bank, they encountered German resistance, which foreshadowed the end of the rapid advance begun on 7 June 1944. It was a small easily crossed river, but its crossing was difficult. A first attempt was stopped by machine-gun and mortar fire from the west bank. On 13 June 1944 the men of Company C of the 38th Infantry Regiment were ordered to cross the river at this point. The first attempt in the morning failed and it was only in the afternoon after the second offensive that they succeeded in reaching the other bank.

The fighting resulted in numerous casualties, ten men of Company C were killed and 23 others wounded. In total, the losses of the 2nd Infantry Division during the two days of combat amounted to 540 killed, wounded or disappeared.

During the second attack of Company C on 13 June 1944, the men were stopped by machine gun fire. German mortars began to adjust their fire on the American position. Advancing under mortars of their own, the men of C Company were successful in clearing out the area.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 2,151    
1800 2,105−0.31%
1806 2,267+1.24%
1821 2,019−0.77%
1831 2,164+0.70%
1836 2,167+0.03%
1841 2,055−1.06%
1846 2,112+0.55%
1851 1,995−1.13%
1856 1,910−0.87%
1861 1,873−0.39%
1866 1,858−0.16%
1872 1,794−0.58%
1876 1,822+0.39%
1881 1,770−0.58%
1886 1,700−0.80%
1891 1,620−0.96%
1896 1,532−1.11%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 1,510−0.29%
1906 1,480−0.40%
1911 1,357−1.72%
1921 1,188−1.32%
1926 1,216+0.47%
1931 1,175−0.68%
1936 1,239+1.07%
1946 1,280+0.33%
1954 1,189−0.92%
1962 1,103−0.93%
1968 1,051−0.80%
1975 923−1.84%
1982 941+0.28%
1990 784−2.26%
1999 839+0.76%
2007 909+1.01%
2012 936+0.59%
2017 1,034+2.01%
Source: EHESS[3] and INSEE (1968-2017)[16]

See also

References

  1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. "Populations légales 2020". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 29 December 2022.
  3. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Cerisy-la-Forêt, EHESS (in French).
  4. CERISY-LA-FORET Code INSEE - 50110 [archive], sur Géoportail, le portail des territoires et des citoyens (consulté le 26 mai 2012).
  5. "Archived copy". www.basse-normandie.ecologie.gouv.fr. Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "PREVISIONS METEO FRANCE - Site Officiel de Météo-France - Prévisions gratuites à 15 jours sur la France et à 10 jours sur le monde". Archived from the original on 14 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  7. Auguste Longnon, Les noms de lieux de la France, Paris, 1920–1929; rééd. Champion, Paris, 1979, p. 625, § 2949.
  8. Auguste Vincent, Toponymie de la France, Bruxelles, 1937, p. 74b, § 180.
  9. L'oppidum de Saint-Jean-de-Savigny
  10. Thomas Blanc-Dumont, Contribution à la caractérisation du type d'occupation des sols à partir des propriétés magnétiques : cas des sites de Montfarville et de Cerisy-la-Forêt (Basse Normandie)(Sous la direction de Marie Pétronille et Alain Tabbagh, 2006).
  11. Histoire de l'Académie royale des inscriptions et belles lettres, 28, (Paris, 1761) p480.
  12. Cerisy-la-Forêt - L'abbatiale Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. Abbaye de Cerisy [archive].
  14. Jean Bigot sieur de Sommesnil, État des paroisses des élections de Normandie, 1612/1636
  15. Ina » [archive].
  16. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
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