Amfreville () is a commune in the

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of north-western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Amfreville is located some 25 km north-west of

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

and 1 km south-east of

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders t ...

mostly on the right bank of the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Sallenelles Sallenelles () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region in northwestern France. Population Tourism M ...

in the north passing through the west of the commune then continuing south then west to Bénouville. Access to the village is by the D37B from Breville-les-Monts in the south-east and continuing through the village north to Sallenelles. There is also the D236 going east from the village to

Bavent Bavent () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of north-western France. The inhabitants of the commu ...

. There are several hamlets apart from the village: Hameau Oger and Hameau La Rue form a continuous urban area with the main village and the hamlets of La Basse Ecarde and La Haute Ecarde are to the west. The rest of the commune and the entire left bank of the Orne portion are farmland.Google Maps
/ref> The

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019. Amfreville is located close to Sword Beach on the Normandy coast, which is one of the beaches where the Allies executed their

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

. It is also close to the important medieval city of Caen, which figured in the Allied landings. Amfreville is considered to have been officially "liberated" from the German occupation of World War II on 6 June 1944. Amfreville is understood to be the ancestral home of the

Umfraville The Umfraville family were Anglo-Norman landowners, administrators and soldiers who were prominent from about 1120 to 1437 on the northern border of England, where they held the strategic lordships of Prudhoe and Redesdale in Northumberland. T ...

family of Anglo-Norman nobles who occupied England under William the Conqueror and his successors, and went on to become British nobility under the titles ''the Barons of

Prudhoe Prudhoe ( ) is a town and civil parish in the south of Northumberland, England. It is west of Newcastle upon Tyne and situated on a steep, north-facing hill on the south bank of the River Tyne. Prudhoe had a population of 11,675 at the 2011 ...

'' and the ''Lords of

Redesdale Redesdale is a valley in western Northumberland, England. It is formed by the River Rede, which rises in the Cheviots and flows down to join the North Tyne at Redesmouth. Redesdale is traversed by the A68 trunk road, which enters Scotland ...

'', and later also gained Scottish lands and the title ''

Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

''. Images of these historical associations with the Norman Conquest of 1066 and the Normandy Landings of 1944 are incorporated in the town's heraldry.

Heraldry

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

Twinning

Amfreville has twinning associations with: *

Hillerse Hillerse is a municipality in the Gifhorn (district), district of Gifhorn, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a member municipality of the Samtgemeinde Meinersen. The Municipality Hillerse includes the villages of Hillerse and Volkse. Twin towns H ...

(Germany) since 1999. *

Brunehaut Brunehaut (; ; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bléharies (town centre), Guignies, Hollain, Howardries, Jollain-Merlin, Laplaigne, Lesda ...

(Belgium) since 2005. * Dolton (United Kingdom) since 1981.

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Amfrevillais'' or ''Amfrevillaises'' in French.Le nom des habitants du 14 - Calvados
habitants.fr

Sites and monuments

*Le Plain is a place with a

tree plantation A tree plantation, forest plantation, plantation forest, timber plantation, or tree farm is a forest planted for high volume production of wood, usually by planting one type of tree as a monoculture forest. The term ''tree farm'' also is used to ...

, a church, and horses. It is registered as a site of ecological interest for flora and fauna.

References

External links

Amfreville on Géoportail
National Geographic Institute (IGN) website
''Amfreville'' on the 1750 Cassini Map
{{authority control Communes of Calvados (department)