Gouffern en Auge explained

Gouffern en Auge
Commune Status:	Commune
Arrondissement:	Argentan
Canton:	Argentan-2
Insee:	61474
Postal Code:	61160, 61200, 61310
Mayor:	Philippe Toussaint^[1]
Term:	2020 - 2026
Intercommunality:	Argentan Intercom
Coordinates:	48.755°N 0.069°W
Area Km2:	165.79

Gouffern en Auge (in French pronounced as /gufɛʁn ɑ̃.n‿oʒ/, literally Gouffern in Auge) is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Silly-en-Gouffern (the seat), Aubry-en-Exmes, Avernes-sous-Exmes, Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard, Chambois, La Cochère, Courménil, Exmes, Fel, Omméel, Saint-Pierre-la-Rivière, Survie, Urou-et-Crennes and Villebadin.^[2]

Geography

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets: Survie, Saint-Pierre-la-Rivière, La Frênée, Omméel, Avernes-sous-Exmes, Fel, Aubry-en-Exmes, Villebadin, Chantereine, Courménil, Fougy, La Bélière, Le Bourg, Exmes, Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard, Silly-en-Gouffern, Urou-et-Crennes, Cayenne, La Cochère and Gouffern en Auge.^[3]

The Commune is one of 30 communes that make up the Natura 2000 protected area of Bocages et vergers du sud Pays d'Auge.^[4] The site is 21,541 hectares in size and consists of a well-preserved wooded landscape that hosts three protected beetles, the European stag beetle, the great capricorn beetle and the Hermit Beetle.^[5]

Gouffern en Auge along with another 70 communes is part of a 20,593 hectare, Natura 2000 conservation area, called the Haute vallée de l'Orne et affluents.^[6]

Five rivers run through Gouffern en Auge: the Dives, the Dieuge, the Ure, the Vie and the Barges. In addition there are 20 streams that also traverse the commune:

1. Roule-Crottes
2. Etangs de Chagny
3. Heude
4. Pont aux Anes
5. Rogneux
6. Chedouit
7. Costillets
8. Fontaines Thiot
9. Foulbec
10. Noës
11. Haies Cosnard
12. Douaires
13. Pont de Barges
14. Querpont
15. Val Roger
16. l'Etang des Genets
17. Courgeron
18. Joncerai
19. Moulin a Tan
20. Mont-Ormel

Points of Interest

• Hippodrome du pays d'Argentan is a racecourse for horse racing, based in Urou-et-Crennes.^[7]
• Forest of Gouffern is a 4120 Hectare Forest that is split into two parts by the River Ure, Petite Gouffern to the south of the river and Grande Gouffern to the North.^[8]
• Le coteau de la Butte is a Sensitive Natural Space of Orne, in Courménil.^[9] It is a 4 Hectare reserve, which you can observe its flagship species of Dactylorhiza viridis, Neotinea ustulata and Marsh fritillary.^[10]
• Carrière de la Tourelle is a 2-hectare site in Aubry-en-Exmes classed as a Sensitive Natural Space of Orne.^[9] The site was created in 1987, and features fauna and flora such as dropwort, round-headed rampion and the Adonis blue butterfly.^[11]

National heritage sites

The commune has 12 buildings and areas listed as monument historiques

• Château du Bourg-Saint-Léonard, an 18th-century chateau listed as a monument in 1942^[12] in 1954 it was bequeathed to the local municipality.^[13]
• Donjon de Chambois, a former medieval dungeon built in the 12th century, by William de Mandeville.^[14] It was registered as a monument historique in 1901.^[15]
• Château d'Exmes, the remains of a tenth-century castle listed as a monument in 1979^[16]
• Château de Villebadin, a 17th-century chateau listed as a monument in 1978^[17]
• Château d’Aubry-en-Exmes, a 14th-century chateau listed as a monument in 1968^[18]
• Château de Courménil, an 18th-century chateau listed as a monument in 1991^[19]
• Manor of Argentelles, a 15th-century manor house listed as a monument in 1926.^[20] Henry IV of France stayed here in 1591.^[21]
• Chateau de la Roche, an 18th-century chateau listed as a monument in 1974.^[22]
• Saint-André Church, an 11th-century church in Exmes listed as a monument in 1913^[23]
• Fougy Church, a 12th-century church in Le Bourg-Saint-Léonard listed as a monument in 1971^[24]
• Saint-Martins Church, 12th-century church, that apart from Sées Cathedral is the only stone spire to have been built before the 15th century in Orne.^[25] Registered as a monument in 1914.^[25]
• Pierre Levée Menhir, a Neolithic Menhir that was classed as a Monument historique in 1889.^[26]

Notable people

• Opportuna of Montreuil (died 770), a Frankish Benedictine nun and abbess who was born here.^[27]
• Herbert de Losinga (died 1119), the first Bishop of Norwich was born here.^[28]
• François Le Prévost d'Exmes (1729-1793), a French writer, playwright and literary critic who was born here.^[29]
• Marie Louis Descorches (1749-1830), a French diplomat was born here.^[30]
• Martin-Guillaume Biennais (1764-1843), a French Gold and Silversmith was born here.^[31]
• Victor Paysant (1841-1921) a priest who created The living and talking church of Ménil-Gondouin was born here.^[32]
• Léon Bazalgette (1873-1928), a French literary critic, biographer and translator lived and was buried here.^{[33] [34]}

See also

• Communes of the Orne department

Notes and References

1. Web site: Répertoire national des élus: les maires. data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022. fr.
2. https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/eli/arrete/2016/10/6/INTB1632827A/jo/texte Arrêté préfectoral
3. Web site: Gouffern en Auge · France. Gouffern en Auge · France.
4. Web site: INPN - FSD Natura 2000 - FR2502014 - Bocages et vergers du sud Pays d'Auge - Description.
5. Web site: Natura 2000. Chambres d'agriculture de. Normandie. 11 June 2024. normandie.chambres-agriculture.fr.
6. Web site: INPN - FSD Natura 2000 - FR2500099 - Haute vallée de l'Orne et affluents - Description.
7. Web site: Gouffern-en-Auge. Le quartier de l'hippodrome, havre de tranquillité. 8 August 2022. Ouest-France.fr.
8. Web site: À la découverte de la forêt de Gouffern et de ses abords. www.patrimoine-normand.com.
9. Web site: Espaces Naturels Sensibles de l’Orne | Conservatoires d'espaces naturels de Normandie. cen-normandie.fr.
10. Web site: COTEAU DE LA BUTTE | Conservatoires d'espaces naturels de Normandie. cen-normandie.fr.
11. Web site: Autres sites naturels.
12. Web site: Château à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110752. monumentum.fr.
13. Web site: Communs du Château du Bourg-Saint-Léonard à Gouffern en Auge. www.fondation-patrimoine.org.
14. Web site: Chambois Castle. History Hit.
15. Web site: Château fort à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110764. monumentum.fr.
16. Web site: Ancien château médiéval et vestiges qui en dépendent à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110802. monumentum.fr.
17. Web site: Château à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110966. monumentum.fr.
18. Web site: Vieux château à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110732. monumentum.fr.
19. Web site: Château à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110995. monumentum.fr.
20. Web site: Manoir d'Argentelles à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110967. monumentum.fr.
21. Web site: Manoir d'Argentelles. www.pop.culture.gouv.fr.
22. Web site: Château de la Roche à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110777. monumentum.fr.
23. Web site: Eglise Saint-André à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110803. monumentum.fr.
24. Web site: Eglise de Fougy à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110753. monumentum.fr.
25. Web site: Eglise à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110765. monumentum.fr.
26. Web site: Menhir dit la Pierre Levée à Gouffern en Auge - PA00110952. monumentum.fr.
27. Web site: Calendar of Saints - 22 April. catholicsaints.mobi.
28. Doubleday and Page Houses of Benedictine monks: New Minster, or the Abbey of Hyde pp. 116–122
29. Web site: Le Prévost D'exmes | Dictionnaire des journalistes. dictionnaire-journalistes.gazettes18e.fr.
30. Web site: Mesnil-Gonfroy - Survie (61) - Marie-Louis-Henri D'Eschorches, Marquis de Sainte-Croix, Préfet de La Drôme (1749–1830) - La Maraîchine Normande. August 26, 2020. shenandoahdavis.canalblog.com.
31. Web site: Martin-Guillaume Biennais. Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, Vaduz–Vienna.
32. Web site: Le Journal d'Alençon et du département de l'Orne, numéro du 04 août 1921 · Normannia : le patrimoine écrit de Normandie.
33. Web site: BAZALGETTE Léon. Nicole. Racine. 6 November 2022. Maitron/Editions de l'Atelier. Le Maitron.
34. Web site: Avernes-sous-Exmes: rendez-vous au Moulin des Noës ce dimanche. alencon.maville.com.