Écouché-les-Vallées

Écouché-les-Vallées
Commune
The church in Écouché
Location of Écouché-les-Vallées
Écouché-les-Vallées Show map of France Écouché-les-Vallées Show map of Normandy
Coordinates: 48°43′05″N 0°07′30″W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Orne
Arrondissement	Argentan
Canton	Magny-le-Désert
Intercommunality	Terres d'Argentan Interco
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Alain Lolivier[1]
Area ^1	41.23 km^2 (15.92 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	2,193
• Density	53/km^2 (140/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	61153 /61150
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Écouché-les-Vallées (French pronunciation: [ekuʃe le vale]) is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Batilly, La Courbe, Écouché (the seat), Loucé, Saint-Ouen-sur-Maire and Serans.[3] On 1 January 2018, the former commune of Fontenai-sur-Orne was merged into Écouché-les-Vallées.[4] Its seat, Écouché, is classed as a Petites Cités de Caractère.[5]

Geography

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets: La Courbe, Mesnil-Glaise, Le Haut du Château, Batilly, Treize Saints, L'Être Hubert, Saint-Ouen-sur-Maire, Serans, Écouché, Méheudin, Loucé, Noiseville, Le Hamel and Fontenai-sur-Orne.

The parts of the commune that contains Batilly and La Courbe is part of the area known as Suisse Normande.[6]

Écouché-les-Vallées along with another 69 communes is part of a 20,593 hectare, Natura 2000 conservation area, called the Haute vallée de l'Orne et affluents.[7]

The Commune has 5 rivers running through it with another 6 streams. The five rivers are the Orne, Maire, Baize, Cance and Udon.[8] The 6 streams are the Chalau, Commune, Barbottiere, Vloger and Aunais.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	2,218	—
1975	2,245	+0.17%
1982	2,291	+0.29%
1990	2,298	+0.04%
1999	2,284	−0.07%
2007	2,303	+0.10%
2012	2,218	−0.75%
2017	2,169	−0.45%
Source: INSEE[10]

Notable buildings and places

• Parc de Sculptures de l'Atelier Balias is a 4 Hectare garden that is open to the public. It features over 55 statues today and was created in 1825.[11][12] The grounds also feature a 12 hole Swingolf course.[13]
• Gardens of Méheudin. is a 2 ha garden and Arboretum in Écouché.[14] The Garden was started in 1978 and features over 300 types of trees and ornamental shrubs.[15]

National heritage sites

The Commune has 5 buildings and areas listed as a Monument historique.

• Lower grounds of la Courbe a barred spur from a Protohistory site.[16]
• Upper Castle grounds a Protohistory site that still has remains of the ditches and embankments used for the castle.[17]
• la Queurie Lodge a 15th century manor in La Courbe.[18]
• Notre Dame Church a 13th century church in Ecouché.[19]
• Loucé Church a 12th century church in Loucé.[20]

Notable People

• André Chéradame French journalist and scholar from the École Libre des Sciences Politiques born in 1871 in Ecouches.[21]

Twin town

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in France

• Elze, Germany since 1971.[22]

Transport

The commune has a Railway station in Écouché, that was opened in 1866 and serves part of the Argentan to Granville line.[23]

See also

• Communes of the Orne department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Arrêté préfectoral 26 October 2015 (in French)
4. Arrêté préfectoral 15 December 2017 (in French)
5. HOUDOU, Gérard (17 July 2023). "Connaissez-vous les Petites Cités de Caractère de l'Orne ?". Ouest-France.fr.
6. "Map of Suisse Normande" (PDF).
7. "INPN - FSD Natura 2000 - FR2500099 - Haute vallée de l'Orne et affluents - Description".
8. Sandre. "Fiche cours d'eau - L'Orne (I2--0200)".
9. "Écouché-les-Vallées · France". Écouché-les-Vallées · France.
10. Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
11. "Parc de Sculptures de l'Atelier Balias à Ecouché (61)". www.jardinez.com.
12. "À 19 ans, il porte sur ses épaules l'atelier Balias". Ouest-France.fr. 26 April 2016.
13. "Swin golf du château Balias - Golf - ECOUCHE-LES-VALLEES". Orne Tourisme.
14. "Les jardins vous ouvrent leurs portes". Ouest-France.fr. 31 May 2013.
15. "PARC ET JARDINS DE MÉHEUDIN - Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France". www.parcsetjardins.fr.
16. "Camp du Bas de la Courbe (éperon barré) à La Courbe - PA00110783". monumentum.fr.
17. "Camp du Haut du Château à La Courbe - PA00110784". monumentum.fr.
18. "Logis de la Queurie à La Courbe - PA00110785". monumentum.fr.
19. "Eglise Notre-Dame à Ecouché - PA00110798". monumentum.fr.
20. "Eglise à Loucé - PA00110983". monumentum.fr.
21. Nicolas Ginsburger. "ANDRÉ CHÉRADAME ET L'ÉMERGENCE D'UNE CARTOGRAPHIE GÉOPOLITIQUE DE GUERRE EN 1916" (PDF). lecfc.fr.
22. "Jumelage - Commune d'Écouché-les-Vallées - Site officiel". www.ecouchelesvallees.fr.
23. "Toutes les infos de la gare SNCF Écouché". Infos Gare.