Préseau (, in
picard
Picard may refer to:
Places
* Picard, Quebec, Canada
* Picard, California, United States
* Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium
People and fictional characters
* Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...
: ''Pérziau'') is a
commune in the
Nord
Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to:
Acronyms
* National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization
* New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US
Film and televisi ...
department of northern France.
Heraldry
History
Préseau is first mentioned in 1173 when the place is called "Presel", meadow in
Old French
Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th [2-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...
. Only in 1724 was the name Préseau definitely chosen.
In the first half of the fifteenth century, the tiny village has a total of 22 "feux", meaning 22 houses. The inhabitants essentially live off the land since their principal activity is agriculture. Documents containing the fiefs held by the count of Hainaut testify the building of a kiln belonging to the count which stays up for all the fifteenth century.
Préseau was one of the six peerages of the county of Valenciennes. A peerage is inherited from father to son by virtue of blood link.
[SCUFFLAIRE Andrée, Les fiefs directs des comtes de Hainaut de 1349 à 1504 : essai d’inventaire statistique et géographique. Tome 2 : Prévôté de Mons, Prévôté de Valenciennes, Bruxelles, Archives Générales du Royaume, 1978, p. 384-385.]
On 9 October 1918 Canadian pilot Captain Lynn Campbell and his machine-gunner 2nd Lieutenant William Hodgkinson of the Royal Air Force (Royal Flying Corps) were shot down in their
Bristol Fighter above Préseau by
Paul Bäumer
:''This article deals with Paul Bäumer the pilot. For the fictional Paul Bäumer, see All Quiet on the Western Front. For the late member of electronic music group Bingo Players, see Bingo Players''
Paul Wilhelm Bäumer known as The Iron Eagle ...
of
Jasta 2
Jasta 2 (Jagdstaffel Zwei in full and also known as ''Jasta Boelcke'') was one of the best-known German Luftstreitkräfte squadrons in World War I. Its first commanding officer was the great aerial tactician Oswald Boelcke, and it was the incubator ...
. They are buried in the cemetery, left to the calvary behind the church.
Population
Administration
List of recent mayors :
* Jean-Marc Richard : 2001-2014
Ind.
* Sandrine François Lagny : 2014-2026
Ind.
Landmarks
* The village used to have a castle, now in ruins, but few lords ever dwelled there.
* The Church of Sainte Aldegonde, built in 1866. Inside can be found a wide variety of statues.
* A calvary built in 1833, the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Voyage and other secondary chapels.
* The war memorial in remembrance of the seventy-two soldiers killed during the First World War.
* The British cemetery with the 107 graves of the British soldiers who died during the battle for the village in 1918.
* The old brewery.
Local customs
* Local dish : the "tarte à prones" (plum pie).
* Folk song : Vive Persiais (Préseau in the local dialect)
See also
*
Communes of the Nord department
The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):
References
* SCUFFLAIRE Andrée, Les fiefs directs des comtes de Hainaut de 1349 à 1504 : essai d’inventaire statistique et géographique. Tome 2 : Prévôté de Mons, Prévôté de Valenciennes, Bruxelles, Archives Générales du Royaume, 1978, p. 384-385.
External links
Official website
Communes of Nord (French department)
{{Valenciennes-geo-stub