Ablon

Ablon
Commune
Ablon Town Hall
show Location of Ablon Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap
Ablon Ablon Show map of FranceShow map of NormandyShow all
Coordinates: 49°23′39″N 0°17′48″E / 49.3942°N 0.2967°E / 49.3942; 0.2967Coordinates: 49°23′39″N 0°17′48″E / 49.3942°N 0.2967°E / 49.3942; 0.2967
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Lisieux
Canton	Honfleur-Deauville
Intercommunality
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Xavier Canu
Area 1	12 km2 (5 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2018)[1]	1,198
• Density	100/km2 (260/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Ablonnais, Ablonnaises
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	14001 /14600
Elevation	0–118 m (0–387 ft) (avg. 98 m or 322 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Ablon (French pronunciation: [ablɔ̃] (listen)) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Ablonnais or Ablonnaises.^[2]

Geography[]

Ablon is 5 km south east of Honfleur and 16 km north-west of Pont-Audemer with its northern border on the Seine Estuary. It can be reached on Highway D580A from Honfleur turning right on the small country road called Cote de Vats to reach the village of Ablon. Road D140 (Route de Genneville) from Genneville in the south passes through the western side of the commune to join the D580a just outside the commune. The D144 road forms the southern border of the commune. Ablon is in the north-eastern corner of the Calvados department with its eastern border being the departmental border with Eure.^[3]

The Morelle river passes through the north of the commune from east to west although oddly does not form part of the commune. The Canal de Retour is parallel to it but also does not form part of the commune.^[3]

Toponymy[]

The name of the village is attested as far back as 1180 as Abelon.

One theory states that the town’s name comes from the Norse Epi-lundr, meaning “apple orchard”. The nearby village of Yébleron shares this etymology. The ancient scandinavian lundr meaning orchard or wood has regularly been followed by the suffix -lon (for example, Bouquelon, Écaquelon, Yquelon, etc.).

Another theory suggests that the town’s name derives from the Germanic personal name Abilo, followed by the suffix -o/-one, but this suffix does not usually accompany Germanic personal names. It has also been suggested that the name is based solely on the name ‘Abilo’ with no suffix but the usage of a personal name with no suffix or epithet would be exceptional among Norman place names.

A third theory suggests that Ablon comes from the Germanic personal name Abbo followed by the suffix -lon. If this is the case the name of the town means “Abbo’s wood”.

The similarity with the nearby village of Ablon-sur-Seine is coincidental.^[4]

History[]

In 1809, Ablon grew in size following its union with two neighbouring communes: Crémanville and Ableville.^[5]

Ablon was the site of a Nobel dynamite factory from 1879 until 1989.^[6] The factory ceased operations following an explosion on 3 March 1988 which killed 5, including the factory's director, and left 8 injured. Windows were broken more than a kilometre away in the village of Honfleur.^[7][8]

Administration[]

This list is incomplete; you can help by . (April 2021)

List of Successive Mayors of Ablon^[9]

From	To	Name	Party
2001	2008	Christian Trocque	UMP
2008	Current	Xavier Canu	DVD

Population[]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 324 —     1800 259 −3.15% 1806 332 +4.23% 1821 982 +7.50% 1831 901 −0.86% 1836 738 −3.91% 1841 702 −1.00% 1846 702 +0.00% 1851 721 +0.54% 1856 660 −1.75% 1861 719 +1.73% 1866 660 −1.70% 1872 638 −0.56% 1876 628 −0.39% 1881 650 +0.69% 1886 660 +0.31% 1891 740 +2.31% 1896 757 +0.46% 1901 803 +1.19% 1906 741 −1.59% 1911 760 +0.51% 1921 728 −0.43% 1926 772 +1.18%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 741 −0.82% 1936 775 +0.90% 1946 841 +0.82% 1954 813 −0.42% 1962 852 +0.59% 1968 866 +0.27% 1975 838 −0.47% 1982 880 +0.70% 1990 940 +0.83% 1999 1,047 +1.21% 2006 1,145 +1.29% 2007 1,160 +1.31% 2008 1,175 +1.29% 2009 1,184 +0.77% 2010 1,189 +0.42% 2011 1,196 +0.59% 2012 1,204 +0.67% 2013 1,211 +0.58% 2014 1,205 −0.50% 2015 1,216 +0.91% 2016 1,210 −0.49% 2017 1,204 −0.50% 2018 1,198 −0.50%
Source: EHESS (1793-2006)[10] and INSEE[11][12]

Politics[]

Presidential Elections Second Round:^[13]

Election		Winning Candidate	Party	%
	2017	Emmanuel Macron	EM	60.41
	2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	55.89
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	55.94
	2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	77.78

2012 French presidential election at Ablon:^[14]

Candidate		First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Eva Joly	EÉLV	13	1.66
Marine Le Pen	FN	171	21.84
Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	230	29.37	403	55.89
Jean-Luc Mélenchon	FG	60	7.66
Philippe Poutou	NPA	8	1.02
Nathalie Arthaud	LO	2	0.26
Jacques Cheminade	SP	4	0.51
François Bayrou	MoDem	95	12.13
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan	DLR	38	4.85
François Hollande	PS	162	20.69	318	44.11
Registered voters		901	100.00	901	100.00
Abstentions		107	11.88	129	14.32
Voted		794	88.12	772	85.68
Blanks and Nulls		11	1.39	51	6.61
Valid votes		783	98.61	721	93.39

Culture and heritage[]

Civil heritage[]

The commune has two buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

• The Chateau of Ablon (1767 and 1845)^[15]
• The Dynamite Factory (1885 to 1916).^[6] The factory contains several items that are registered as historical objects:
  • A Dreiswerke moulding machine (1952)^[16]
  • A Weighing machine (20th century)^[17]
  • A Nitroglycerine production line (20th century)^[18]

Other sites of interest

• La Houssaye Manor-farm

Religious heritage[]

The Parish Church of Saint-Pierre contains one item that is registered as an historical object:

• A Baptismal font (12th century)^[19]

See also[]

• Communes of the Calvados department

External links[]

• Ablon official website (in French)
• Ablon on the old IGN website (in French)
• Ablon on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• Ablon on the 1750 Cassini Map

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ablon.