Auchel (; ) is a commune in the

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

department in the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

region in northern France.

Geography

An ex-mining town, nowadays a light industrial & farming commune, situated southwest of Béthune and southwest of

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

, at the junction of the D183 and the D183E roads.

History

Following the discovery of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

deposits in the area in 1851, the town grew as the demand for coal increased in France. This old mining town had close to 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s.
The coal recession in the late 1960s lead to a constant decline in population, despite the efforts of the municipality to attract and keep people here during and after the recession.

Population

The inhabitants are called ''Auchellois''.

Sights

* The church of St. Martin, dating from the sixteenth century. * A museum about

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

International relations

Auchel is twinned with: *

West Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, West ...

, in the county of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England. *

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

, in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

, Germany.

Notable people

Auchel is the birthplace of: *

Xavier Beauvois Xavier Beauvois (; born 20 March 1967) is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. Career His film '' Don't Forget You're Going to Die'' was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. His film '' Of Gods an ...

, actor, director and screenwriter. *

Angela Behelle Angela Behelle (born October 5, 1971, in Auchel) is a French romance novel writer. Biography Angela Behelle was born on October 5, 1971, in Auchel. She spent part of her childhood in Pas-de-Calais and studied law at the University of Lille. A ...

, writer * Pierre Laigle, football player *

Augustin Lesage Augustin Lesage (August 9, 1876 – February 21, 1954) was a French coal miner who became a painter and artist through the help of what he considered to be spirit voices. His style utilizes patterns and symmetry on a large scale, often accompanied ...

, French spiritualist artist. Lesage is one of the most fascinating figures associated with Art Brut *

Stéphane Lecocq Stéphane Lecocq (born October 22, 1976, in Auchel) is a French former professional football player who played in Ligue 2 for Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association foot ...

, professional footballer *

Afida Turner Afida Turner (born Hafidda Messaï; December 22, 1976) is a French media personality and singer. She has released two studio albums and several singles, singing both in French and in English. She has also appeared in small roles in multiple f ...

, singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality *

Pierre Waché Pierre Waché (born 10 December 1974) is a French Formula One engineer. He is the technical director at the Red Bull Racing Formula One team. Career Waché earned a doctorate in fluid dynamics from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorrai ...

, Formula One engineer and technical director for

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

* François Duhamel professional footballer

References

External links

An history of Auchel

Harmonie municipale website

Auchel town hall website
Communes of Pas-de-Calais County of Artois {{Béthune-geo-stub