Gonfreville-l'Orcher

French commune
name= Gonfreville-l’Orcher
region=Haute-Normandie
department=Seine-Maritime
arrondissement=Le Havre
canton= Gonfreville-l'Orcher (chef-lieu)
insee=76305
cp=76700
maire=Jean-Paul Lecoq
mandat=2001-2008
intercomm=Communauté d'agglomération Havraise
longitude=0.234166667
latitude=49.505833333
alt moy=90 m
alt mini=0 m
alt maxi=102 m
hectares=2581
km²=25,81
sans=10004
date-sans=1999
dens=385|

Gonfreville-l’Orcher is a commune and chief town of a canton in the Seine-Maritime "département" of the Haute-Normandie region of northern France.

Geography

An industrial town based around an ancient village situated in the Pays de Caux, some convert|5|mi|km east of Le Havre, in between the D982 and D9015 roads. The A131 autoroute cuts through the middle of the commune alongside the banks of the Tancarville canal.The economy depends mainly on the industrial area of the Port of the Lower-Seine (chemical works and refineries) and the commercial area known as Camp-Dolent.

History

The etymology of the first part of the name is "Gunfrid's farm". The Orcher suffix comes from the name of the first seigneurs of the village, now corrupted to Orcher, but originally "Aurichier" ("alor" = alder and "kjarr / ker" = marsh. Cf. Ellerker, Yorkshire). The nearby chateau bears the same name of Orcher.
The commune was created and recorded in 1251 with the merger of the two parishes of Gonfreville and Gournay. A priory had stood here since 1024 but long before that, Bronze Age people had been here, witnessed by the tools unearthed during the 19th century.

Population

Places of interest

* The church of St. Erconwald, dating from the 19th century.
* The remains of a feudal motte.
* The 18th century château d'Orcher
* Vestiges of the medieval castle d'Orcher in the park of the present-day chateau.
* The Renaissance manorhouse de Bévilliers (16th century).
* The church of Notre-Dame, dating from the 17th century.
* The chapel at Dignefort, dating from the 13th century (Now a private house).
* A 15th century dovecote.

See also

*Communes of the Seine-Maritime department
*Seine-Maritime
*Normandy

External links

* [http://www.gonfreville-l-orcher.fr/ Official town website] fr
* [http://www.lemag-go.com Audiovisual website about Gonfreville l'Orcher] fr
* [http://www.quid.fr/communes.html?mode=detail&id=16494&req=Gonfreville-l'Orcher Gonfreville-l'Orcher on the Quid website] fr

Notes

*"This article is based on the original and the equivalent article from the French Wikipedia, consulted on October 2nd 2008."