Habloville () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in north-western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The inhabitants of Habloville,are called Hablovillais and Hablovillaises

Geography

The commune of Habloville borders Suisse Normande to the north, south and west and on its eastern border the communes of Ri and

Rônai Rônai () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. See also *Communes of the Orne department The following is a list of the 385 communes of the Orne department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercomm ...

. The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, Habloville, Launay Percot, Bissey and Noirville. The source of the river

Baize Baize is a coarse woollen (or in cheaper variants cotton) cloth, similar in texture to felt, but more durable. History A mid-17th-century English ditty—much quoted in histories of ale and beer brewing in England—refers to 1525: Hops, her ...

is located at the village

lavoir A lavoir (wash-house) is a public place set aside for the washing of clothes. Communal washing places were common in Europe until industrial washing was introduced, and this process in turn was replaced by domestic washing machines and by laun ...

opposite the church.

History

Neolithic period

Habloville contains evidence of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

presence in the area with a

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...

or stone table measuring 3.25 meters by 2.95 meters called the Dolmen des Bignes. The Dolmen is situated just North of another Neolithic site, this time a set of

Tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones buil ...

, in Habloville called the Tumulus des Hogues which was listed as a historical monument in 1968.

Roman

The village Ablo-Villa, literally the domain of Hablon, was probably born in the Gallo-Roman era.

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

was worshiped near the Pirouet spring where two

Tanagra figurine The Tanagra figurines were a mold-cast type of Greek terracotta figurines produced from the later fourth century BC, named after the Boeotian town of Tanagra, where many were excavated and which has given its name to the whole class. However, the ...

s were found, and now stored in the National Archaeological Museum of France in

Saint-Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ge ...

Middle Ages

The 11th Century saw a primitive church in the same spot as the current church, with text dated 1053 bearing the signature of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

and Queen Mathilde was ceded by the lords of

Bellême Bellême () is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France. The musicologist Guillaume André Villoteau (1759–1839) was born in Bellême, as was Aristide Boucicaut (1810-1877), owner of ''Le'' ''Bon Marché'', the world's first de ...

and given to the Abbey of Saint Julien in

Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 ...

. The Church was reconstructed in eth 13th century with two chapels, Saint-Michel and Saint-Jacques, being built in the 15th Century. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

the village experienced a certain prosperity as it is on a pilgrimage route to

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and i ...

and

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...

15th to 19th century

An area of Habloville, the stronghold of Noirville, was purchased in the 15th century by the Fouasse family, who took on the name, to become the Fouasse de Noirville Marquis. They owned the area until 1789 after an uprising of the local peasants. Near the end of the 18th century, a Chappe telegraph was built in Habloville near the Château du Jardin in Bissey. On 29 May 1799 a small group of

Chouan Chouan ("the silent one", or "owl") is a French nickname. It was used as a nom de guerre by the Chouan brothers, most notably Jean Cottereau, better known as Jean Chouan, who led a major revolt in Bas-Maine against the French Revolution. Par ...

s surrounded by 3,000 Republican soldiers fell back towards the telegraph, defended only by its employees. They were savagely murdered and the square tower supporting the great arms set on fire. After its reconstruction in 1800, the telegraph operated until the early 1850s. Lime kilns were built between the areas of Monts and Noirville in the 18th century and used up until the 19th century. The kilns were in use until 1870 when they were shut down due to the use of chemical fertilizers in agriculture and of cement in construction.

20th century

Habloville was liberated from the Germans on the 18 August 1944. The

10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg The 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg" (german: 10. SS-Panzerdivision "Frundsberg") was a German Waffen-SS armoured division during World War II. The division's first battles were in Ukraine in April 1944. Afterwards, the unit was then trans ...

defended the village against the Allied forces to hold an opening for the encircled German forces in the Falaise pocket. In their hurry to flee the offensive, the Germans left many items behind, including the 10.5 cm leFH 18

howitzer A howitzer () is a long- ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...

that is now displayed next to the war memorial. Habloville memorial

Notable buildings and places

Villages Lavoir is the source of the River Baize.

National heritage sites

The Commune has three buildings and areas listed as a

Monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

Church of Our Lady of the Nativity is a church built during the 13th to 15th century and the interior is classed as a Monument historique. It contains treasure of sacred art and furniture dating from the 15th to 18th century. Dolmen des Bignes is a Neolithic dolmen that, is on the border of the commune with Neuvy-au-Houlme and was classed as a Monument historique in 1931. Tumulus des Hogues is a Neolithic site containing Tumlus that was classed as a Monument historique in 1968. File:Habloville mairie.jpg, Habloville mayors office File:Habloville église.jpg, Habloville church File:Habloville 2010-01-18 003.jpg, Lavoir in Habloville