Gonfreville-l'Orcher
Encyclopedia
Gonfreville-l’Orcher is a commune
in the Seine-Maritime
department in the Haute-Normandie
region
in northern France
.
town based around an ancient village situated in the Pays de Caux
, some 5 miles (8 km) east of Le Havre
, in between the D982 and D9015 roads. The A131 autoroute
cuts through the middle of the commune alongside the banks of the Tancarville
canal.
The economy depends mainly on the industrial area of the Port of the Lower-Seine (chemical works and refineries) and the commercial area known as Camp-Dolent.
The Orcher suffix comes from the name of the first seigneurs
of the village, now corrupted to Orcher, but originally Aurichier (alor = alder and kjarr / ker = marsh. Cf. Ellerker
, Yorkshire), that took themselves in turn their name from the same place, where the chateau is located.
The commune was created and recorded in 1251 with the merger of the two parishes of Gonfreville and Gournay. A priory
had stood here since 1024 but long before that, Bronze Age
people had been here, witnessed by the tools unearthed during the 19th century and the name Gournay is a Celtic archetype *Gornako, connected with a wet place.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre...
department in the Haute-Normandie
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
in northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
An industrialLight industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
town based around an ancient village situated in the Pays de Caux
Pays de Caux
The Pays de Caux is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French département of Seine Maritime in Haute-Normandie. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs on the English Channel coast - its coastline is known as the Côte d'Albâtre...
, some 5 miles (8 km) east of Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, in between the D982 and D9015 roads. The A131 autoroute
A131 autoroute
Autoroute 131 links the A13 and Le Havre.The motorway starts at exit 26 on the A13 and ends in the outskirts of Le Havre.It is operated by the Société des Autoroutes de Paris Normandie . Its total length is . Apart from the Pont de Tancarville where a toll is applicable, the motorway is toll-free....
cuts through the middle of the commune alongside the banks of the Tancarville
Tancarville
Tancarville is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Upper Normandy region of northern France.-Geography:Tancarville is a farming village surrounded by woodland, by the banks of the river Seine in the Pays de Caux, some east of Le Havre and near the junction of the D39, D982 and D910...
canal.
The economy depends mainly on the industrial area of the Port of the Lower-Seine (chemical works and refineries) and the commercial area known as Camp-Dolent.
History
The etymology of the first part of the name is Gunfridr's farm, a Scandinavian farmer who probably settled in the 10th century.The Orcher suffix comes from the name of the first seigneurs
Lord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of the village, now corrupted to Orcher, but originally Aurichier (alor = alder and kjarr / ker = marsh. Cf. Ellerker
Ellerker
Ellerker is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Hull city centre and east of the market town of Howden...
, Yorkshire), that took themselves in turn their name from the same place, where the chateau is located.
The commune was created and recorded in 1251 with the merger of the two parishes of Gonfreville and Gournay. A priory
Priory
A priory is a house of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or religious sisters , or monasteries of monks or nuns .The Benedictines and their offshoots , the Premonstratensians, and the...
had stood here since 1024 but long before that, Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
people had been here, witnessed by the tools unearthed during the 19th century and the name Gournay is a Celtic archetype *Gornako, connected with a wet place.
Heraldry
Population
Places of interest
- The church of St. Erconwald, dating from the nineteenth century.
- The remains of a feudal motteMotte-and-baileyA motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade...
. - The eighteenth century châteauChâteauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
d'Orcher - Vestiges of the medieval castleCastleA castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
d'Orcher in the park of the present-day chateau. - The Renaissance manorhouse de Bévilliers (sixteenth century).
- The church of Notre-Dame, dating from the seventeenth century.
- The chapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
at Dignefort, dating from the thirteenth century (Now a private house). - A fifteenth century dovecoteDovecoteA dovecote or dovecot is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be square or circular free-standing structures or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pigeonholes for the birds to nest. Pigeons and doves were an important food source historically in...
.