Aubencheul-aux-Bois () 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 D6 44 road from La Gaité in the north runs south along the western border of the commune changing to D 1044 in the commune and continuing south to Le Catelet. The D 16 road runs east from the D6 44 to the village changing to D 281 within the commune then continuing east as the D 16 to Villers-Outréaux. The commune is composed entirely of farmland.Google Maps
Two streams rise in the commune, one flowing southwest and the other flowing east.
Neighbouring communes and villages
History
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-BoisList of Mayors of France
From To Name Party 1708 Louys Caron 1740 1742 Henri Caron 1751 1755 Paul Passé 1758 1765 Alexandre Dominique Passet 1773 Michel Carron 1776 Philippe Joseph Caron 1786 1788 Charles Joseph Passet 1792 Antoine Joseph Millot 1792 Maximilien Caré 1800 1816 Hyacinthe Passet 1816 1831 Augustin Passet 1832 1836 Noël Milhem 1836 1847 Ildefonce Désiré Passet 1848 1861 Charles Clavier 1861 1871 Benoît Hyacinthe Passet 1871 1871 Louis Lévêque 1871 1875 Eugéne Loubry 1875 1878 Simon Philemont 1878 1892 Eugéne Loubry 1892 1896 Ernest Fontaine 1896 1904 Charles Passet 1904 Ernest Passet 1954 Lucien Passet 1977 Present Francis Passet DVD
Population
Sites and Monuments
A Church, rebuilt after the 1914-18 war in a neo-Romanesque style mostly in brick.
See also Communes of the Aisne department
External links Aubencheul-aux-Bois on the old IGN website Aubencheul-aux-Bois on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website Aubancheul aux Bois on the 1750 Cassini Map
Notes and references
Notes
References