Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière
Encyclopedia
Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière , in occitan Sent Pardol la Ribiera, is a commune
in the Dordogne
department in Aquitaine
in southwestern France. It forms part of the Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin
.
.
Besides the village center the commune of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière comprises the following hamlets:
Beaumont, Bon Ombre, Bordessoule, Bos-Brûlat, Brande, Brin, Chaumeille, Chez Bathe, Chez Boissard, Chez Boutard, Chez Neymard, Jamaye, La Briderie, La Dorie, La Font du Prince, La Grange, La Nanotte, La Plassade, Langlade, Lapeyronnie, Le Buisson, Le Châtenet, Le Clos, Le Couvent, Le Maine, Le Mandereau, Le Queyroi, Le Petit Villars, Les Batisses, Les Combes, Les Granges, Les Rebières, Les Roches, Lescure, Maliba, Négrecombe, Neuil, Noujarède, Puy d'Arnac, and Puypelat.
The commune's territory is traversed roughly centrally by the River Dronne
. The northern boundary to Champs-Romain is formed by the river, which is occupying a narrow canyon. After initially following a southwesterly direction it then swings to the south. Before reaching the village the valley widens. Alongside a ford over the river Saint-Pardoux was founded.
A right tributary of the Dronne, the Ruisseau de Lachenaud, forms the western continuation of the northern boundary to Champs-Romain. Its course is directed to the southeast. Near the center of Saint-Pardoux the Dronne receives a left tributary, the Ruisseau de Chantres.
The topographically lowest point in the commune with 132 meters above sea level is situated at the southern exit of the Dronne near Jamaye, the highest point with 332 meters above sea level near Bos Brûlat in the very northeastern corner.
basement rocks of the northwestern Massif Central
, which also stand out topographically. The southern lowlands around the village center are occupied by sediment
s of the northern Aquitaine Basin. Along the border faults the basement rocks were raised relative to the sedimentary cover.
The oldest unit of the basement rocks are Neoproterozoic
micaschists of the Parautochthonous Micaschist Unit (PMU). They can be seen in the east near Chantres and Le Châtenet. They were intruded during the Pennsylvanian
by the Saint-Mathieu Leucogranite. The leucogranite
crops out in the upper reaches of the Dronne valley. To the north of the N 065-striking fault the basement rocks consist of Plagioclase
-bearing paragneisses. In some places these are intruded by small granodiorite
bodies belonging to the Piégut-Pluviers Granodiorite
or by leptynites of Ordovician
age.
The flatlying sediments surrounding the village center are mainly of Jurassic
age and comprise Lias
as well as Dogger
limestone
s. The Lias is composed of Hettangian
(sandstone
s, coarse sandstones and conglomerates
), Sinemurian
(oolithic limestones
, sometimes dolomitic
) and Toarcian
(claystone
s and grey marl
s). Near the border faults the Lias can be silicified. The Toarcian clays were once quarried by a (now redundant) tile factory. The Dogger consists of cryptocrystalline limestones, bioclastic limestones and oolithic limestones spanning the period Upper Bajocian
and Bathonian
. Close to the border faults crop out the so-called sidérolithique (iron-rich, reddish, clayey sand
s) and solidified, conglomeratic alluvial deposits
. Both formations are most likely of Eocene
age. All the aforementioned sedimentary units can be covered by colluvial
gravel
s of Pleistocene
age. In the Dronne valley gravelly terrasses belonging to the Mindel stage and the Würm staage can be observed. Limestone debris mantelling certain hillslopes is due to gelifraction processes during the last ice age
.
Worth mentioning are certain mineral
occurrences like silver
-bearing galena
in the paragneisses or baryte mainly within the Lias. Occasional tourmaline
can also be found in the paragneisses. Manganese
(manganese dioxide) associated with nontronite
was once mined near Le Mandereau. The Neuil mine
, situated in the paragneisses, contains apart from galena and baryte the minerals chalcopyrite
, gypsum
, marcasite
, pyrite
, pyromorphite
and sphalerite
.
there was once a monastery
in Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière. Hardly anything is left of it now, because most of its building stones were used in the construction of the village. The church goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries. It underwent extensive renovation during the 19th century with the steeple being completely rebuilt. The Château de Vaugoubert at the Dronne also goes back to the 17th century. From an even older castle only the round tower is left.
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 Dordogne
Dordogne
Dordogne is a départment in south-west France. The départment is located in the region of Aquitaine, between the Loire valley and the High Pyrénées named after the great river Dordogne that runs through it...
department in Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
in southwestern France. It forms part of the Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin
Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin
The Parc naturel régional Périgord Limousin was created March 9, 1998. It consists of 78 communes situated in the Dordogne and Haute Vienne départements...
.
Etymology
The occitan Sent Pardol is derived from Saint Pardulphus (Sanctus Pardulphus), la ribiera means the river, i.e. the DronneDronne
The Dronne is a 201 km long river in southwestern France, right tributary of the Isle River. Its source is in the north-western Massif Central, east of the town of Châlus at an elevation of 510 m...
.
Geography
Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière is surrounded by the following communes:- Champs-RomainChamps-RomainChamps-Romain is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the north. - Saint-Saud-LacoussièreSaint-Saud-LacoussièreSaint-Saud-Lacoussière is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the northeast. - Milhac-de-NontronMilhac-de-NontronMilhac-de-Nontron is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-References:*...
in the southeast. - Saint-Front-la-RivièreSaint-Front-la-RivièreSaint-Front-la-Rivière is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.This pretty village has a twelfth-century church, a bar, petrol station, school and a post office. It also has 4 châteaux, medieval to nineteenth century. There are also the ruins of the Du Barry...
in the south. - Sceau-Saint-AngelSceau-Saint-AngelSceau-Saint-Angel is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* * Sceau-Saint-Angel is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:...
in the west. - NontronNontronNontron is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-History:According to the historian Ribault de Laugardière, the name Nontron derives from the Tyrian language, from Nata and Dun...
in the northwest. - Savignac-de-NontronSavignac-de-NontronSavignac-de-Nontron is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* *...
in the northwest (the communes only touch at a single point).
Besides the village center the commune of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière comprises the following hamlets:
Beaumont, Bon Ombre, Bordessoule, Bos-Brûlat, Brande, Brin, Chaumeille, Chez Bathe, Chez Boissard, Chez Boutard, Chez Neymard, Jamaye, La Briderie, La Dorie, La Font du Prince, La Grange, La Nanotte, La Plassade, Langlade, Lapeyronnie, Le Buisson, Le Châtenet, Le Clos, Le Couvent, Le Maine, Le Mandereau, Le Queyroi, Le Petit Villars, Les Batisses, Les Combes, Les Granges, Les Rebières, Les Roches, Lescure, Maliba, Négrecombe, Neuil, Noujarède, Puy d'Arnac, and Puypelat.
The commune's territory is traversed roughly centrally by the River Dronne
Dronne
The Dronne is a 201 km long river in southwestern France, right tributary of the Isle River. Its source is in the north-western Massif Central, east of the town of Châlus at an elevation of 510 m...
. The northern boundary to Champs-Romain is formed by the river, which is occupying a narrow canyon. After initially following a southwesterly direction it then swings to the south. Before reaching the village the valley widens. Alongside a ford over the river Saint-Pardoux was founded.
A right tributary of the Dronne, the Ruisseau de Lachenaud, forms the western continuation of the northern boundary to Champs-Romain. Its course is directed to the southeast. Near the center of Saint-Pardoux the Dronne receives a left tributary, the Ruisseau de Chantres.
The topographically lowest point in the commune with 132 meters above sea level is situated at the southern exit of the Dronne near Jamaye, the highest point with 332 meters above sea level near Bos Brûlat in the very northeastern corner.
Geology
The commune's territory is divided into two contrasting domains by two crossing fault lines (N 065 and N 160). To the north and east of these faults one encounters the VariscanVariscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny is a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.-Naming:...
basement rocks of the northwestern Massif Central
Massif Central (geology)
The Massif Central forms together with the Armorican Massif one of the two big basement massifs in France. Its geological evolution started in the late Neoproterozoic and continues to this day. It has been shaped mainly by the Caledonian orogeny and the Variscan orogeny. The Alpine orogeny has...
, which also stand out topographically. The southern lowlands around the village center are occupied by sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
s of the northern Aquitaine Basin. Along the border faults the basement rocks were raised relative to the sedimentary cover.
The oldest unit of the basement rocks are Neoproterozoic
Neoproterozoic
The Neoproterozoic Era is the unit of geologic time from 1,000 to 542.0 ± 1.0 million years ago. The terminal Era of the formal Proterozoic Eon , it is further subdivided into the Tonian, Cryogenian, and Ediacaran Periods...
micaschists of the Parautochthonous Micaschist Unit (PMU). They can be seen in the east near Chantres and Le Châtenet. They were intruded during the Pennsylvanian
Pennsylvanian
The Pennsylvanian is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the younger of two subperiods of the Carboniferous Period. It lasted from roughly . As with most other geochronologic units, the rock beds that define the Pennsylvanian are well identified, but the exact date of the start and end are uncertain...
by the Saint-Mathieu Leucogranite. The leucogranite
Leucogranite
In geology, leucogranites are amongst the youngest intrusions related to anatexis of continental crust anywhere in the world. Leucogranites are commonly found in deformed metapelitic/metagraywacke sequences that have been thrusted over basements during crustal thickening associated with continental...
crops out in the upper reaches of the Dronne valley. To the north of the N 065-striking fault the basement rocks consist of Plagioclase
Plagioclase
Plagioclase is an important series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar family. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a solid solution series, more properly known as the plagioclase feldspar series...
-bearing paragneisses. In some places these are intruded by small granodiorite
Granodiorite
Granodiorite is an intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase than orthoclase-type feldspar. Officially, it is defined as a phaneritic igneous rock with greater than 20% quartz by volume where at least 65% of the feldspar is plagioclase. It usually contains abundant...
bodies belonging to the Piégut-Pluviers Granodiorite
Piégut-Pluviers Granodiorite
The Piégut-Pluviers Granodiorite is situated at the northwestern edge of the Variscan Massif Central in France. Its cooling age has been determined as 325 ± 14 million years BP .- Geographical situation :...
or by leptynites of Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
age.
The flatlying sediments surrounding the village center are mainly of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
age and comprise Lias
Lias
Lias may refer to:*In geology:**The Lias Group, a group in the stratigraphy of Great Britain, formed during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic epochs. It includes the Blue Lias and White Lias...
as well as Dogger
Dogger
Dogger can mean:-*A sea area in the North Sea, noted in shipping forecasts, named after:**The Dogger Bank, a large shallow area in the North Sea between Britain and Denmark...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
s. The Lias is composed of Hettangian
Hettangian
The Hettangian is the earliest age or lowest stage of the Jurassic period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between 199.6 ± 0.6 Ma and 196.5 ± 1 Ma . The Hettangian follows the Rhaetian and is followed by the Sinemurian.In Europe stratigraphy the Hettangian is a part of the time span in...
(sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
s, coarse sandstones and conglomerates
Conglomerate (geology)
A conglomerate is a rock consisting of individual clasts within a finer-grained matrix that have become cemented together. Conglomerates are sedimentary rocks consisting of rounded fragments and are thus differentiated from breccias, which consist of angular clasts...
), Sinemurian
Sinemurian
In the geologic timescale, the Sinemurian is an age or stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic epoch or series. It spans the time between 196.5 ± 2 Ma and 189.6 ± 1.5 Ma...
(oolithic limestones
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
, sometimes dolomitic
Dolomite
Dolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
) and Toarcian
Toarcian
The Toarcian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, an age or stage in the Early or Lower Jurassic. It spans the time between 183.0 Ma and 175.6 Ma...
(claystone
Claystone
Claystone is a geological term used to describe a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed primarily of clay-sized particles ....
s and grey marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
s). Near the border faults the Lias can be silicified. The Toarcian clays were once quarried by a (now redundant) tile factory. The Dogger consists of cryptocrystalline limestones, bioclastic limestones and oolithic limestones spanning the period Upper Bajocian
Bajocian
In the geologic timescale, the Bajocian is an age or stage in the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 171.6 Ma to around 167.7 Ma . The Bajocian age succeeds the Aalenian age and precedes the Bathonian age....
and Bathonian
Bathonian
In the geologic timescale the Bathonian is an age or stage of the Middle Jurassic. It lasted from approximately 167.7 Ma to around 164.7 Ma...
. Close to the border faults crop out the so-called sidérolithique (iron-rich, reddish, clayey sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
s) and solidified, conglomeratic alluvial deposits
Alluvium
Alluvium is loose, unconsolidated soil or sediments, eroded, deposited, and reshaped by water in some form in a non-marine setting. Alluvium is typically made up of a variety of materials, including fine particles of silt and clay and larger particles of sand and gravel...
. Both formations are most likely of Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
age. All the aforementioned sedimentary units can be covered by colluvial
Colluvium
Colluvium is the name for loose bodies of sediment that have been deposited or built up at the bottom of a low-grade slope or against a barrier on that slope, transported by gravity. The deposits that collect at the foot of a steep slope or cliff are also known by the same name. Colluvium often...
gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
s of Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
age. In the Dronne valley gravelly terrasses belonging to the Mindel stage and the Würm staage can be observed. Limestone debris mantelling certain hillslopes is due to gelifraction processes during the last ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
.
Worth mentioning are certain mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
occurrences like silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
-bearing galena
Galena
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral.Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms...
in the paragneisses or baryte mainly within the Lias. Occasional tourmaline
Tourmaline
Tourmaline is a crystal boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classified as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors...
can also be found in the paragneisses. Manganese
Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
(manganese dioxide) associated with nontronite
Nontronite
Nontronite is the iron rich member of the smectite group of clay minerals. Nontronites typically have a chemical composition consisting of more than ~30% Fe2O3 and less than ~12% Al2O3 . Nontronite generally does not exist in economic deposits like montmorillonite, although it is not an uncommon...
was once mined near Le Mandereau. The Neuil mine
Neuil mine
The Neuil Mine , in French Mine de Neuil, is a mine emplaced in paragneisses of the northwestern Massif Central. The mine is part of the commune of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière in the Dordogne...
, situated in the paragneisses, contains apart from galena and baryte the minerals chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite is a copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow color and a hardness of 3.5 to 4 on the Mohs scale. Its streak is diagnostic as green tinged black.On exposure to air, chalcopyrite...
, gypsum
Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is found in alabaster, a decorative stone used in Ancient Egypt. It is the second softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale...
, marcasite
Marcasite
The mineral marcasite, sometimes called white iron pyrite, is iron sulfide with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both structures do have in common that they contain the disulfide...
, pyrite
Pyrite
The mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its resemblance to gold...
, pyromorphite
Pyromorphite
Pyromorphite is a mineral species composed of lead chlorophosphate: Pb53Cl, sometimes occurring in sufficient abundance to be mined as an ore of lead. Crystals are common, and have the form of a hexagonal prism terminated by the basal planes, sometimes combined with narrow faces of a hexagonal...
and sphalerite
Sphalerite
Sphalerite is a mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides...
.
History
Between the 13th century and the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
there was once a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière. Hardly anything is left of it now, because most of its building stones were used in the construction of the village. The church goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries. It underwent extensive renovation during the 19th century with the steeple being completely rebuilt. The Château de Vaugoubert at the Dronne also goes back to the 17th century. From an even older castle only the round tower is left.
Population
The population of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière has decreased continuously till 1999 (25 % decrease), but seems to recover somewhat since then.Mayor
Mayor of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière is since 2001 Maurice Combeau, a pensioner who is not affiliated with any political party.Sights
- The church of Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière with its beautiful sun dial.
- The post card museum. It has a vast collection of post cards from the PérigordPérigordThe Périgord is a former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into four regions, the Périgord Noir , the Périgord Blanc , the Périgord Vert and the Périgord Pourpre...
dating back to the years 1898 - 1920.
Sources
- Floc'h, J.-P. et al. Feuille Nontron. Carte géologique de la France à 1/50000. BRGM.
- Guillot, P.-L. et al. Feuille Thiviers. Carte géologique de la France à 1/50000. BRGM.