Bazoches-au-Houlme

Bazoches-au-Houlme (French pronunciation: [bazɔʃ o ulm]) is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France.

Bazoches-au-Houlme
Commune
A view within Bazoches-au-Houlme
Location of Bazoches-au-Houlme
Bazoches-au-Houlme Bazoches-au-Houlme
Coordinates: 48°49′06″N 0°14′22″W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Orne
Arrondissement	Argentan
Canton	Athis-Val de Rouvre
Intercommunality	Val d'Orne
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Alix Dauger
Area 1	28.64 km2 (11.06 sq mi)
Population  (2023)	449
• Density	15.7/km2 (40.6/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	61028 /61210
Elevation	90–230 m (300–750 ft) (avg. 183 m or 600 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

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 Guilberdière, Le Pont de Baize and La Thiboudière. The commune is spread over an area of 28.64 square kilometres (7,080 acres) with a maximum altitude of 230 metres (754 ft 7 in) and minimum of 90 metres (295 ft 3 in)

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% (1,607 hectares (3,970 acres)) 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.
• Château 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.

• 
  Saint-Pierre Church
• 
  Bazoches-au-Houlme lavoir

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

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	442	—
1975	386	−1.92%
1982	332	−2.13%
1990	335	+0.11%
1999	334	−0.03%
2009	444	+2.89%
2014	497	+2.28%
2020	456	−1.42%
Source: INSEE

See also

• Communes of the Orne department