Anglefort

Anglefort is a commune in the department of Ain in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.

Anglefort
Chautagne lock on the Rhone
Location of Anglefort
Anglefort
Anglefort
Coordinates: 45°54′47″N 5°48′33″E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentAin
ArrondissementBelley
CantonHauteville-Lompnes
IntercommunalityUsses et Rhône
Government
  Mayor (2014-2020) Bernard Thiboud
Area
1
29.26 km2 (11.30 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[1]
1,115
  Density38/km2 (99/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
01010 /01350
Elevation238–1,524 m (781–5,000 ft)
(avg. 251 m or 823 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 Clafordans or Clafordanes[2]

Geography

A steep stretch on the D120 through the Col du Grand Colombier.

Anglefort is a commune in Bugey on the right bank of the Rhone at the foot of the mountain of Grand Colombier which has a panorama of the Alps and the Jura mountains.

The commune is located 25 km south of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine and 30 km north by north-west of Aix-les-Bains. Access to the commune is by road D992 from Seyssel in the north passing through the length of the commune and the village to Culoz in the south. There is also access on road D120 which is a highly circuitous route from Lochieu in the west continuing to the village as the D120A and continuing south through the Col du Grand Colombier (1,501m) to Culoz. A railway line passes through the commune from north to south with a station to the east of the village.[3]

The Rhone river runs south along the eastern border of the commune and Le Verdet stream flows from the north to the south of the commune into the Rhone.[3]

Environment

The alluvial aquifer fed by the Rhone is threatened by an internal discharge created by the Pechiney Group. Foundry waste, metal dust, and recovered acid from filters have been buried in the Chautagnard marsh with a probable contamination by heavy metals and arsenic.[4]

History

The Priory of Anglefort was located on the communal territory in the Middle Ages. In 1590 Guillaume Drujon[5] was a priest and he became abbot in 1620.

Administration

List of mayors of Anglefort[6]

FromToNamePartyPosition
19952001Michel Thiboud
20012008René Perrier
2008PresentBernard ThiboudDVD

(Not all data is known)

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
2006900    
2007918+2.0%
2008926+0.9%
2009960+3.7%
2010994+3.5%
20111,031+3.7%
20121,069+3.7%
20131,108+3.6%
20141,142+3.1%
20151,133−0.8%
20161,124−0.8%

Economy

The Électricité de France (EDF) Dam is on the Rhone river in the territory of the commune and there is a factory producing silicon. Formerly the property of the Pechiney Electro-metallurgy group, the factory has passed successively into the hands of Alcan (Canada), and the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto at the whim of successive buy-backs of this former French industrial flagship.

Sites and monuments

  • Two sites are registered as historical monuments in the commune:
    • The old Chateau of Anglefort (18th century)[7] formerly the seat of the Lordship of Anglefort and rebuilt in 1741.
    • The Chateau of Mieugy Park[8]
  • The remains of the Chateau de la Rochette which dominates the Rhone was the seat of the Lordship of Rochette, mentioned in 1407.

Notable people linked to the commune

  • Monseigneur Jacques-François Besson, born in Mieugy, Bishop of Metz from 1824 to 1842

See also

Notes and references

Notes

    References

    1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
    2. Inhabitants of Ain (in French)
    3. Google Maps
    4. Note by the Robin Hood NGO called The casseroles of Pechiney, dated 6 October 2003 (in French)
    5. Jean Létanche, The old Castles, Fortified houses, and feudal ruins in the canton of Yenne and Savoy, The History Book of Lorisse, 1907 (ISBN 9782843738135) p. 18. (in French)
    6. List of Mayors of France (in French)
    7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00116292 Chateau (in French)
    8. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée IA01000327 Chateau of Mieugy Park (in French)
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