Abancourt () is a commune in the Oise department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.INSEE commune file

Geography Abancourt is located some 40 km south-west of Amiens and some 20 km north-east of Forges-les-Eaux in the western extremity of the Oise department, on the border of the Seine-Maritime department. Access to the commune is by the D316 road from Aumale in the north passing through the commune and the village and continuing south to Blargies. The D8 goes south-west from the village to the border of Seine-Maritime where it becomes the D236 and continues south-west to Criquiers. The D7 branches off the D316 south of the village and goes south-west to Moliens. The D919 goes north-east from the village to Romescamps. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of La Montagne in the north and Hennicourt in the south. Except for a strip of forest in the west, the commune is entirely farmland.

A railway line passes through the east of the commune from north-east to south with Abancourt station in the south of the commune. The station is an intermediate stop on the TER Hauts-de-France Amiens to Rouen routeTER Amiens to Rouen Timetable and the Le Tréport-Mers to Beauvais routeLe Treport-Mers to Beauvais Timetable

The river Bresle flows north-west from Abancourt along the Formerie plateau into the English Channel at Le Tréport. This coastal river is around 68 to 72 kilometres long depending on which source is used68.1 km according to , 71 km according to the EPTB of Aumale website, 72 km according to le Petit Larousse, the Encarta encyclopedia, and Pierre-Jean Thumerelle in his article dedicated to the river. and crosses the Oise, Somme, and Seine-Maritime Departments.

Neighbouring communes

Toponymy The area was mentioned as Abencourt in 1146, Abencurtis in 1148, Abencurt in 1150 and 1152, Habencourt in 1180, Abencourt in 1337, 1454, and in the 16th century.

One Jean and one Adrien d'Abancourt were alternately lords of Abancourt at the beginning of the 15th century.

History

Roman period Ceramic tiles and amphoras from Abancourt's Roman period are displayed in the Beauvais museum. These were found near a hamlet on the mountain and it is assumed that there must have been a Roman camp or installation at one time. Fine red pottery, stepped and curved roof tiles nearly 50 centimetres across have been found.

On Abancourt's ancient Roman road lies a linden tree 6 metres in circumference, which was possibly the marker of a military border or a Celtic monument.Source: Archaeological records on the Oise department, Academic Society of Archaeology, Sciences, and Arts of Oise, Emmanuel Woillez, 1862.

Recent history

Abancourt appears as Abancourt on the 1750 Cassini Map and the same on the 1790 version.

The village was renamed Abancourt-la-Montagne after the French Revolution.Revolutionary Names of Communes, p. 47 Between 1791 and 1823, the commune was reattached to Romescamps. In 1823 Abancourt was newly created as a commune from Blargies with Hennicourt added to it.

In 1867 the railway came to Abancourt with the construction of Abancourt Station on the Rouen to Amiens line. It was connected directly to Le Tréport and Paris in 1873–1875.

In the First World War the main British supply ports of Le Havre and the inland port of Rouen had restricted hinterlands. It was necessary to find a location where the daily supplies, to maintain 1.3 million troops, could be marshalled and distributed. Abancourt, the junction of several key railway lines to the coast and the Somme, was chosen. Supply trains from Le Havre and Rouen disgorged their content into vast warehouses in the Abancourt complex along of track. The warehouses contained enough non-perishable stores to last at least one month and dispatched twenty-two supply trains a day to the next distribution station. Today there is no obvious trace of this vast complex of warehouses and sidings.Hooper, Colette, Railways of the Great War, Bantam Press, London, 2014, p.128

In the First World War, the British Army had a prison at nearby Blargies. In August 1916 a serious mutiny broke out in the prison, for which seven ring-leaders were prosecuted and at least two put to death on 29 October 1916: British Gunner Lewis, aged 30, shot at Rouen,Dr. David Payne, Why the British Army did not Mutiny En Masse on the Western Front in the Great War , 2008 and New Zealand Private John (Jack) Braithwaite, 35 years old, shot at the prison.Braithwaite, John Biography, Ian McGibbon, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Vol. 3, 1996

World War II See

Heraldry

Administration

Mayors

From To NameMayors of France Party Position 1962 Paul Rouvier 1989 2001 Nicole Lefevre 2001 2008 Emmanual Potvin DVG 2008 Current Jean-Louis Dor LC Retired

Intercommunality Abancourt is a member of the Community of communes of Picardie Vert,Picardie Vert website which comprises the communes of Formerie, Grandvilliers, Marseille-en-Beauvaisis, and Songeons.

The commune is part of "Greater Beauvaisis", one of the sixteen constituent departments of the "Region of Hauts-de-France".

The commune participates in three inter-communal groups: The electrification SIVOM (syndicat intercommunal à vocations multiples; ) of Formerie. The water syndicate of Blargies. The inter-communal syndicate of school boards of Abancourt, Blargies, and Boutavent.

Budget and fiscalism The principal 2006 municipal budget allocated euros to investment and euros to services.Ministry of Economy and Finance: Individual accounts for communes (Municipal budgets 2001 to 2006)

In 2010, the poll tax (TH) collected by the commune was 3.40%, the property tax on developed properties was 22.29%, the property tax on vacant land was 21.71%, and the business tax (TP) was 11.93%.Local Taxes at taxe.com

Urbanism In 2020, 72.4% of the commune's residences were owned by their residents and 24.6% were rented.Logement en 2020, INSEE

Population The inhabitants of the commune are known as Abancourtois (masculine) or Abancourtoises (feminine) in French.Le nom des habitants du 60 - Oise, habitants.fr

Sites and monuments The Church of Notre Dame (nineteenth century) contains a statue Education of the Virgin is registered as a "historical object".Ministry of Culture, Palissy Hennicourt Chapel: built by the Galopin-Mabille family in 1856 and restored in 2008.Abancourt (Hénnicourt): End of work – the chapel begins a new life, 17 July 2008, Published in Le Réveil Bresle-Oise-Somme edition

Amenities The commune has two schools – an elementary school at Abancourt and a primary school at Hennicourt.List of primary schools for Abancourt

In 2008, the town also had a bar/tobacconist, a bakery and a grocery store, located on the Main Street.

At the railway station there is a hotel, restaurant and a bar/tobacconist.

A hall is also available for hire.

Notable people linked to the commune In the early 1960s, the singer Annie "Stone" Gautrat, who sang with Eric Charden, lived in a small house in Perny Street, near the railway station, with her parents during her childhood. The house is located at the corner of the street at the bridge. Stone still remembers the white portico which was present at the time.

See also Communes of the Oise department

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links Abancourt official website