Abancourt, Oise

Abancourt
Abancourt Railway Station 2008
Coat of arms
Abancourt
Location within Picardy region Abancourt
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardy
Department	Oise
Arrondissement	Beauvais
Canton	Formerie
Intercommunality	Picardie Vert
Government
• Mayor (2008–2020)	Jean-Louis Dor
Area1	6.01 km2 (2.32 sq mi)
Population (2012)2	636
• Density	110/km2 (270/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	60001 / 60220
Elevation	170–222 m (558–728 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.

Abancourt is a French commune in the Oise department in the Picardy region of northern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Abancourtois or Abancourtoises.

Geography

Abancourt is located some 40 km south-west of Amiens and some 20 km north-east of Forges-les-Eaux in the western extremity of the Oise department, on the border of the Seine-Maritime department. Access to the commune is by the D316 road from Aumale in the north passing through the commune and the village and continuing south to Blargies. The D8 goes south-west from the village to the border of Seine-Maritime where it becomes the D236 and continues south-west to Criquiers. The D7 branches off the D316 south of the village and goes south-west to Moliens. The D919 goes north-east from the village to Romescamps. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of La Montagne in the north and Hennicourt in the south. Except for a strip of forest in the west, the commune is entirely farmland.

The Abancourt Station before 1909

Abancourt Station in 2008

A railway line passes through the east of the commune from north-east to south with Abancourt station in the south of the commune. The station is an intermediate stop on the TER Picardie Amiens to Rouen route and the Le Tréport-Mers to Beauvais route

The Bresle River flows north-west from Abancourt along the Formerie plateau into the English Channel at Le Tréport. This coastal river is around 68 to 72 kilometres long depending on which source is used and crosses the Oise, Somme, and Seine-Maritime Departments.

Toponymy

The area was mentioned as Abencourt in 1146, Abencurtis in 1148, Abencurt in 1150 and 1152, Habencourt in 1180, Abencourt in 1337, 1454, and in the 16th century.

One Jean and one Adrien d'Abancourt were alternately lords of Abancourt at the beginning of the 15th century.

History

Roman Period

Ceramic tiles and amphoras from Abancourt's Roman period are displayed in the Beauvais museum. These were found near a hamlet on the mountain and it is assumed that there must have been a Roman camp or installation at one time. Fine red pottery, stepped and curved roof tiles nearly 50 centimetres across have been found.

On Abancourt's ancient Roman road lies a linden tree 6 metres in circumference, which was possibly the marker of a military border or a Celtic monument.

Recent History

Abancourt Military Prison 1917

Abancourt Military Prison 1917

Abancourt appears as Abancourt on the 1750 Cassini Map and the same on the 1790 version.

The village was renamed Abancourt-la-Montagne after the French Revolution. Between 1791 and 1823, the commune was reattached to Romescamps. In 1823 Abancourt was newly created as a commune from Blargies with Hennicourt added to it.

In 1867 the railway came to Abancourt with the construction of Abancourt Station on the Rouen to Amiens line. It was connected directly to Le Tréport and Paris in 1873-1875.

In the First World War, the British Army had a prison at Abancourt. In August 1916 a serious mutiny broke out in the prison, for which seven ring-leaders were prosecuted and at least two put to death on 29 October 1916: British Gunner Lewis, aged 30, shot at Rouen, and New Zealand Private John (Jack) Braithwaite, 35 years old, shot at the prison.

World War II

See

Main article: Battle of France

Heraldry

Blazon: Gules, 2 bends wavy argent, in chief a laurel crown Or, and on a canton azure 3 fleurs-de-lys Or.

Administration

Mayors

List:

From	To	Name	Party	Position
	1962	Paul Rouvier
1989	2001	Nicole Lefevre
2001	2008	Emmanual Potvin	DVG
2008	2020	Jean-Louis Dor	Independent	Retired

(Not all data is known)

Intercommunality

Abancourt is a member of the Community of communes of Picardie Vert, which comprises the communes of Formerie, Grandvilliers, Marseille-en-Beauvaisis, and Songeons.

The commune is part of "Greater Beauvaisis", one of the sixteen constituent departments of the "Region of Picardy".

The commune participates in three inter-communal groups:

• The electrification SIVOM (syndicat intercommunal à vocations multiples; English: intercommunal syndicate of multiple vocations) of Formerie.
• The water syndicate of Blargies.
• The inter-communal syndicate of school boards of Abancourt, Blargies, and Boutavent.

Budget and fiscalism

The principal 2006 municipal budget allocated 298,000 euros to investment and 217,000 euros to services.

In 2010, the poll tax (TH) collected by the commune was 3.40%, the property tax on developed properties was 22.29%, the property tax on vacant land was 21.71%, and the business tax (TP) was 11.93%.

Urbanism

In 1999, 59.4% of the commune's residents were owners of their places of residence (compared to 60.4% for the whole Oise department) and 34.4% were tenants (compared to the Oise department's 35.8%).

Demography

In 2010, the town had 646 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the town since 1831. From the 21st century, a census of municipalities 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
				615	677	700	666	664

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
609	598	594	595	569	583	596	555	567

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
538	531	546	602	558	629	603	529	509

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2010	-
507	519	527	593	582	567	635	646	-

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

Population graph for Abancourt

Distribution of population by age

	Abancourt	Abancourt	Oise	Oise
Age range	Men	Women	Men	Women
0 to 14 years	24.5	21.5	21.3	19.9
15 to 29 years	15.6	19.0	20.0	18.5
30 to 44 years	23.9	21.5	22.0	21.6
45 to 59 years	20.7	20.3	21.1	20.7
60 to 74 years	9.6	10.0	11.0	11.5
75 to 89 years	5.7	7.7	4.5	7.1
90 years+	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.8

Sites and monuments

• The Church of Notre Dame (nineteenth century) contains a statue Education of the Virgin is registered as a "historical object".
• Hennicourt Chapel: built by the Galopin-Mabille family in 1856 and restored in 2008.

Facilities and services

Education

The commune has two schools - an elementary school at Abancourt and a primary school at Hennicourt.

Shops and services

In 2008, the town also had a bar/tobacconist, a bakery and a grocery store, located on the Main Street.

At the railway station there is a hotel, restaurant and a bar/tobacconist.

A hall is also available for hire.

Notable people linked to the commune

• In the early 1960s, the singer Annie "Stone" Gautrat, who sang with Eric Charden, lived in a small house in Perny Street, near the railway station, with her parents during her childhood. The house is located at the corner of the street at the bridge. Stone still remembers the white portico which was present at the time.
• Patrick Jakobowsky wrote the lyrics of the song "Made in Normandy".

See also

• Communes of the Oise department

Notes and references

External links

• Abancourt official website