Banneville-sur-Ajon

Banneville-sur-Ajon
The Chapel of Saint Clair
Banneville-sur-Ajon
Location within Normandy region  Banneville-sur-Ajon
Coordinates: 49°03′49″N 0°34′07″W / 49.0636°N 0.5686°WCoordinates: 49°03′49″N 0°34′07″W / 49.0636°N 0.5686°W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Caen
Canton	Aunay-sur-Odon
Intercommunality	Villers-Bocage Intercom
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Marcel Pétré
Area^1	5.63 km^2 (2.17 sq mi)
Population (2010)^2	379
• Density	67/km^2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	14037 / 14260
Elevation	84–184 m (276–604 ft) (avg. 141 m or 463 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. ^2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Banneville-sur-Ajon is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Malherbe-sur-Ajon.^[1]

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bannevillais or Bannevillaises.^[2]

Geography

Banneville-sur-Ajon is located some 20 km south-west of Caen and 7 km south-east of Villers-Bocage. Access to the commune is by the D121A from Saint-Agnan-le-Malherbe in the south which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues north to join the D8. The D171 from Landes-sur-Ajon to Préaux-Bocage passes through the north-east of the commune. Apart from the village there are the hamlets of La Fêterie in the south and Gournay in the north. The commune is almost all farmland.^[3]

The Ajon river flows through the commune from south-east to north-west continuing to join the Odon south-west of Le Locheur. The Orgeuil river rises in the south of the commune and flows north-east through the length of the commune to join the Ajon. The Ruisseau de la Rette flows from the south to join the Orgeuil.^[3]

Neighbouring communes and villages^[3]

Toponymy

Banneville-sur-Ajon was Barneville sur Ajon in 1371.^[4] René Lepelley attributed the origin of the name to the Germanic anthroponym Benno^[5] with the Old French suffix -ville meaning "rural domain".

Administration

List of Successive Mayors^[6]

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1995	2001	Jacques Vahe
2001	2014	Annick Viel-Schneider
2014	2020	Marcel Pétré

(Not all data is known)

Demography

In 2010 the commune had 379 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger communes that have a sample survey every year.^{[Note 1]}

Population Change (See database)

1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851
508	530	524	475	441	458	439	414	412

1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896
406	380	375	362	354	362	347	331	314

1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954
315	290	273	255	259	243	265	233	243

1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2010	-
216	211	224	346	360	389	393	379	-

Sources : Ldh/EHESS/Cassini until 1962, INSEE database from 1968 (population without double counting and municipal population from 2006)

Sites and monuments

The Church of Saint-Melaine

• The Chapel of Saint-Clair (13th century) is registered as an historical monument.^[7] The church is built on a simple rectangular plan. On the tympanum of the south portal there is a figure in bas-relief of Saint Samson on his throne, and inside is a statue of Saint Clair.
• The Church of Saint-Melaine is in neo-Gothic style from the late 19th century.
• A replica of the grotto of Lourdes was built at a place called Le Village at the end of the Second World War.

Chapel Picture Gallery

• 

  The Chapel of Saint Clair

• 

  A Detail in the Chapel

• 

  The Chapel

• 

  Detail on the Chapel

• 

  The door handle of the Chapel

See also

• Communes of the Calvados department

Notes and references

Notes

1. At the beginning of the 21st century, the methods of identification have been modified by Law No. 2002-276 of 27 February 2002, the so-called "law of local democracy" and in particular Title V "census operations" allows, after a transitional period running from 2004 to 2008, the annual publication of the legal population of the different French administrative districts. For communes with a population greater than 10,000 inhabitants, a sample survey is conducted annually, the entire territory of these communes is taken into account at the end of the period of five years. The first "legal population" after 1999 under this new law came into force on 1 January 2009 and was based on the census of 2006.

References

1. Arrêté préfectoral 9 December 2015 (French)
2. Inhabitants of Calvados (French)
3. Google Maps
4. Albert Dauzat and Charles Rostaing, Etymological Dictionary of place names in France, Larousse, Paris, 1963 (French)
5. René Lepelley, Etymological Dictionary of names of communes in Normandy, Éditions Charles Corlet, Condé-sur-Noireau, 1996, BnF 36174448w, p. 58 (French)
6. List of Mayors of France (French)
7. Ministry of Culture, Mérimée PA00111031 Chapel of Saint-Clair (French)

External links

• Banneville-sur-Ajon on Lion1906
• Benneville fur Ajon on the 1750 Cassini Map
• Banneville-sur-Ajon on the INSEE website (French)