Bazenville

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox French commune

Bazenville (Template:IPA) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.<ref>INSEE commune file</ref>

Bazenville Airfield was a former World War II Advanced Landing Ground, mostly located outside the commune of Bazenville 1.8 km to the north-east.

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Bazenvillais or Bazenvillaises.<ref>Inhabitants of Calvados Template:In lang</ref>

Geography

Bazenville is located some 6 km east by north-east of Bayeux and 4 km south by south-east of Arromanches-les-Bains. Access to the commune is by the D87 road from Ryes in the north-west which passes through the commune south of the village and continues south-east to Villiers-le-Sec. The D112 from Sommervieu to Crépon forms the north-western border of the commune. Apart from the village there is the hamlet of Les Noyaux. There is a British Military Cemetery in the west of the commune on the D87. The commune is entirely farmland.<ref name=Google>Bazenville on Google Maps</ref><ref name=Geo/>

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Toponymy

Bazonille is mentioned as Basonni villa in 875.

Bazenville appears as Bazanville on the 1750 Cassini Map<ref name=Cassini1750/> and as Bazan ville on the 1790 version.<ref name=Cassini1790/>

History

Bazenville was liberated on the same day as the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. An interim Canadian aerodrome (referred to as Bazenville Airfield, Advanced Landing Ground B-2 Bazenville, or B-2 Crépon) was built commencing the following night near the commune in a large part of the triangle formed by the Bazenville, Crépon, and Villiers-le-Sec villages.<ref>Abandoned Airfields in Lower Normandy Template:Webarchive Template:In lang</ref>

It was on this aerodrome that the French ace Pierre Clostermann flew, on 11 June 1944, for the first time in France after his entry into the war in 1942: "All my life I will remember the people of Bazenville the first French to whom I spoke".<ref name ="Dico">Claude Quétel (under the direction of), Dictionary of the Landings, éditions Ouest-France, Rennes, 2011, 725 pages, p. 174 "Clostermann (Pierre)", Template:ISBN Template:In lang</ref>

Administration

{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B=Template:Ambox Template:Main other }} List of Successive Mayors<ref>List of Mayors of France Template:In lang</ref>

From	To	Name	Party	Position
2001	2005	Pierre Vallerend		Farmer
2005	2026	Marcel Dubois		Retired

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 137 inhabitants.

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Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

A Commemorative plaque remembering the site of the airfield where Pierre Clostermann arrived on 11 June 1944.

The commune has many buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

A Farmhouse at Rue des Alliés (1759)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
A Tradesman's house at Rue des Cordiers (19th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
The Bazenville Farmhouse at Rue de l'Eglise (17th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>
A House at Rue de l'Eglise (18th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
A Notable's House at Rue de l'Eglise (18th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>
The Chateau of Bazenville at Rue de la Grotte (17th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
The Manor of Tournebu at Rue des Noyaux (17th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>
A Worker's House at Route de Villiers-le-Sec (19th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
The Chateau de la Croix at Route de Villiers-le-Sec (1727)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
The British Cemetery of Ryes (20th century).Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref> The cemetery contains 979 graves: 630 British, 21 Canadians, one Australian, one Pole, and 326 Germans.
The War Memorial (1929)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
The Grotto of Lourdes (1947)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:In lang</ref>
Bazenville Village (Ancient times)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>
Houses (17th-19th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>

Religious heritage

The commune has several religious buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments:

A Presbytery at Rue de l'Eglise (19th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref>Ministry of Culture, Mérimée Template:Mérimée Template:Camera Template:In lang</ref>
The Parish Church of Saint-Martin at le Bourg (13th century)Template:Mérimée Icon<ref name=IA00121780>Template:Base Mérimée</ref><ref name=PA00111069>Template:Base Mérimée</ref> The Church contains a large number of objects which are registered as historical objects.<ref name=IA00121780/><ref name=PA00111069/>