Bazoches-au-Houlme

Bazoches-au-Houlme () is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France.

Toponymy

The etymology of the name is probably a blend of Latin and Old Norse origins: Basilicis ("church"; attested 11th c.) and holmr ("islet, meadow, etc.").

Geography

The commune of Bazoches-au-Houlme is part of the area known as Suisse Normande.

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, Bazoches-au-Houlme, La GuilberdiÃÂ¨re, Le Pont de Baize and La ThiboudiÃÂ¨re. The commune is spread over an area of with a maximum altitude of and minimum of

The river Baize runs through the commune, along with four of its tributaries, Ruisseau des Vaux Viets, Ruisseau du Val Lienard, Ruisseau du Val and Ruisseau des Vallees.

Land distribution

The 2018 CORINE Land Cover assessment shows the vast majority of the land in the commune, 56% () is Arable land. The rest of the land is Meadows at 37%, Forests are 4% and rest of land is equally shared by Heterogeneous agricultural, Artificial, non-agricultural green spaces and urbanised areas.

Notable buildings and places

National heritage sites

Saint-Pierre Church is a church built during the 12th century that contains a group of sculptures of The Virgin Bringing Communion to Saint Avoie, from the old church of Saint-Pavin is classed as a Monument historique.
ChÃÂ¢teau de Bazoches-au-Houlme is a stately home built in many stages. At first it was castle fortress remnants from the 12th century that was partly destroyed by Geoffrey Plantagenet with a watchtower that was built in the 14th century added to the structure. Later in the 15th to 18th century a stately home was added to the structure. This is classed as a Monument historique.

Notable people

Remy de Gourmont, a French symbolist poet, novelist, and influential critic, was born in Bazoches-au-Houlme.
Maurice Ephrussi, owned the Haras du Gazon, a breeding farm in Bazoches-au-Houlme which produced several horses of notable ability.

Population

References