Aubencheul-aux-Bois
Commune
Location of Aubencheul-aux-Bois
Aubencheul-aux-Bois Show map of France Aubencheul-aux-Bois Show map of Hauts-de-France
Coordinates: 50°01′46″N 3°15′56″E / 50.0294°N 3.2656°E / 50.0294; 3.2656
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Aisne
Arrondissement	Saint-Quentin
Canton	Bohain-en-Vermandois
Intercommunality	Pays du Vermandois
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Francis Passet[1]
Area 1	2.11 km2 (0.81 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2021)[2]	248
• Density	120/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	02030 /02420
Elevation	105–139 m (344–456 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Aubencheul-aux-Bois (French pronunciation: [obɑ̃ʃœl o bwa]) is a commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France.

Geography

Aubencheul-aux-Bois is located some 20 km south of Cambrai and 30 km east of Combles. The northwest border of the commune is the border between Aisne and Nord departments. The D644 road from La Gaite in the north runs south along the western border of the commune changing to D1044 in the commune and continuing south to Le Catelet. The D16 road runs east from the D644 to the village changing to D281 within the commune then continuing east as the D16 to Villers-Outreaux. The commune is composed entirely of farmland.^[3]

Two streams rise in the commune, one flowing southwest and the other flowing east.^[3]

History

The War memorial

An Oratory in the commune

Aubencheul-aux-Bois was the seat of a small abbey founded in the 11th century in the middle of the forest of Arrouaise. It was part of the province of Cambrésis. The village was ravaged in 1584 by the Duke of Parma and in 1636 by the Spaniards. The first inhabitants back to 1663 were the families of Loubry, Lévêque, Grau, Deboucq, Dessains, Dessenne, Guéguin, Carpentier, Milhem, Ferlier, Fichaux, Bernerd, Biar, Simon, Val, Bancourt, Noblécourt, Dubois, Caré, Faucon, Dazin, Savary, Malézieux, Lanthoine, Coupé, Pattée, Dambraine, Gressier, Thibaut, Billon, Domont, and Bantigny. On 16 July 1735, after five days of strong winds, a swarm of grasshoppers destroyed the stocks of straw and hay. There was a shortage in 1709 due to the freezing conditions from January to March with most fruit trees and corn crop being destroyed. This happened again in 1740 when poverty was extreme until the end of harvest in 1741 - during the famine the population lost about a quarter of its population. On 15 June 1839 a tornado a mile wide with hail as large as chicken eggs arrived and everything was destroyed. A fire destroyed 63 houses on 17 June 1827. In 1848 there was famine, in 1849 Cholera. The village was almost completely destroyed during the First World War.

Administration

List of Successive Mayors of Aubencheul-aux-Bois^[4]

Population

A Wayside Cross in the Commune

Sites and Monuments

The Church

• A Church, rebuilt after the 1914-18 war in a neo-Romanesque style mostly in brick.

See also

• Communes of the Aisne department

Notes and references

References

1. ↑ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
2. ↑ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. 1 2 3 Google Maps
4. ↑ List of Mayors of France (in French)
5. ↑ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE

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