Ablon

Ablon is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

Ablon
Commune
Ablon Town Hall
Location of Ablon
Ablon
Ablon
Coordinates: 49°23′39″N 0°17′48″E
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentCalvados
ArrondissementLisieux
CantonHonfleur-Deauville
IntercommunalityPays de Honfleur-Beuzeville
Government
 • Mayor (2020-2026) Xavier Canu
Area
1
12 km2 (5 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
1,204
 • Density100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Ablonnais, Ablonnaises
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
14001 /14600
Elevation0–118 m (0–387 ft)
(avg. 98 m or 322 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 Ablonnais or Ablonnaises.[2]

Geography

Ablon is 5 km south east of Honfleur and 16 km north-west of Pont-Audemer with its northern border on the Seine Estuary. It can be reached on Highway D580A from Honfleur turning right on the small country road called Cote de Vats to reach the village of Ablon. Road D140 (Route de Genneville) from Genneville in the south passes through the western side of the commune to join the D580a just outside the commune. The D144 road forms the southern border of the commune. Ablon is in the north-eastern corner of the Calvados department with its eastern border being the departmental border with Eure.[3]

The Morelle river passes through the north of the commune from east to west although oddly does not form part of the commune. The Canal de Retour is parallel to it but also does not form part of the commune.[3]

Toponymy

The name of the village is attested as far back as 1180 as Abelon.

One theory states that the town’s name comes from the Norse Epi-lundr, meaning “apple orchard”. The nearby village of Yébleron shares this etymology. The ancient scandinavian lundr meaning orchard or wood has regularly been followed by the suffix -lon (for example, Bouquelon, Écaquelon, Yquelon, etc.).

Another theory suggests that the town’s name derives from the Germanic personal name Abilo, followed by the suffix -o/-one, but this suffix does not usually accompany Germanic personal names. It has also been suggested that the name is based solely on the name ‘Abilo’ with no suffix but the usage of a personal name with no suffix or epithet would be exceptional among Norman place names.

A third theory suggests that Ablon comes from the Germanic personal name Abbo followed by the suffix -lon. If this is the case the name of the town means “Abbo’s wood”.

The similarity with the nearby village of Ablon-sur-Seine is coincidental.[4]

History

In 1809, Ablon grew in size following its union with two neighbouring communes: Crémanville and Ableville.[5]

Ablon was the site of a Nobel dynamite factory from 1879 until 1989.[6] The factory ceased operations following an explosion on 3 March 1988 which killed 5, including the factory's director, and left 8 injured. Windows were broken more than a kilometre away in the village of Honfleur.[7][8]

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Ablon[9]

FromToNamePartyPosition
20012008Christian TrocqueUMP
2008CurrentXavier CanuDVD

(Not all data is known)

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793 324—    
1800 259−3.15%
1806 332+4.23%
1821 982+7.50%
1831 901−0.86%
1836 738−3.91%
1841 702−1.00%
1846 702+0.00%
1851 721+0.54%
1856 660−1.75%
1861 719+1.73%
1866 660−1.70%
1872 638−0.56%
1876 628−0.39%
1881 650+0.69%
1886 660+0.31%
1891 740+2.31%
1896 757+0.46%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901 803+1.19%
1906 741−1.59%
1911 760+0.51%
1921 728−0.43%
1926 772+1.18%
1931 741−0.82%
1936 775+0.90%
1946 841+0.82%
1954 813−0.42%
1962 852+0.59%
1968 866+0.27%
1975 838−0.47%
1982 880+0.70%
1990 940+0.83%
1999 1,047+1.21%
2007 1,160+1.29%
2012 1,204+0.75%
2017 1,204+0.00%
Source: EHESS[5] and INSEE[10]

Politics

Presidential Elections Second Round:[11]

ElectionWinning CandidateParty%
2017 Emmanuel Macron EM 60.41
2012 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 55.89
2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 55.94
2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 77.78

2012 French presidential election at Ablon:[12]

Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Eva JolyEÉLV131.66
Marine Le PenFN17121.84
Nicolas SarkozyUMP23029.37 40355.89
Jean-Luc MélenchonFG607.66
Philippe PoutouNPA81.02
Nathalie ArthaudLO20.26
Jacques CheminadeSP40.51
François BayrouMoDem9512.13
Nicolas Dupont-AignanDLR384.85
François HollandePS16220.69 31844.11
Registered voters 901 100.00 901 100.00
Abstentions 107 11.88 129 14.32
Voted 794 88.12 772 85.68
Blanks and Nulls 11 1.39 51 6.61
Valid votes 783 98.61 721 93.39

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has two buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

  • The Chateau of Ablon (1767 and 1845)[13]
  • The Dynamite Factory (1885 to 1916).[6] The factory contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
    • A Dreiswerke moulding machine (1952)[14]
    • A Weighing machine (20th century)[15]
    • A Nitroglycerine production line (20th century)[16]
Other sites of interest
  • La Houssaye Manor-farm

Religious heritage
The Church of Saint-Pierre

The Parish Church of Saint-Pierre contains one item that is registered as an historical object:

See also

References
  1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  2. Inhabitants of Calvados (in French)
  3. Google Maps
  4. Ernest Nègre, Toponymie générale de la France, Droz, Genève, Ch. IV, p. 825, no 14261
  5. Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet Ablon, EHESS. (in French)
  6. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA14000758 Dynamite Factory (in French)
  7. Record of Accident on the A.R.I.A. database
  8. Detailed Record of Accident on the A.R.I.A. database
  9. List of Mayors of France (in French)
  10. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  11. http://www.lemonde.fr/data/france/presidentielle-2017/
  13. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111828 Chateau of Ablon (in French)
  14. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM14002731 Dreiswerke moulding machine (in French)
  15. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM14002730 Weighing machine (in French)
  16. Ministry of Culture, Palissy IM14002729 Nitroglycerine production line (in French)
  17. Ministry of Culture, Palissy PM14000001 Baptismal font (in French)
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