Villers-Faucon

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Coordinates: 49°52′38″N 2°53′51″E / 49.8772222222, 2.8975 Coordinates: 49°58′39″N 3°06′00″E / 49.9775, 3.1

Commune of Villers-Faucon

Location

Administration

Communauté de communes du canton de Roisel

Mayor

M. André Brouette
(2001-2008)

Statistics

Elevation

75 m–144 m
(avg. 104 m)

Land area^¹

11,42 km²

Population^²
(1999)

625

- Density

54/km²

Miscellaneous

INSEE/Postal code

80802/ 80240

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

Villers-Faucon is a commune in the Somme département in the Picardie region of France.

1 Geography
2 Population
3 History
4 Sites and Monuments
5 See also
6 External links
7 Notes

[edit] Geography

Situated some 15 miles(24km) northwest of Saint Quentin, at the D72 and D101 crossroads, in the far east of the departement. The commune also includes the hamlet of Sainte-Emilie.

[edit] Population

Population Evolution
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999
904	916	803	704	662	625
Census count starting from 1962 Population without double counting

[edit] History

According to Abbot Decagny of Roisel, Villers-Faucon was originally Villers-Falcon and previously Villare Falconis, which means,in Latin, villa of the hawks. Villers-Faucon’s original puprpose was that of a falconry, located in the heart of the forest of Arrouaise.
The village was almost totally destroyed in 1916, during the First World War. Following a withdrawal of German troops around the Hindenburg line, the inhabitants were evacuated to the north to Denain, tons of dynamite were set off around all of the buildings in the town (including the sugar refinery at St. Emilie) and all the trees were cut down, to leave the field open for the approach of troops. The village was destroyed, but the cemetery was left untouched.
After the conflict, reconstruction began, which lasted almost a decade, led by a rebuilding cooperative led by Louis Faille.

[edit] Sites and Monuments

Notre Dame church was rebuilt in 1932 by architect Louis Faille. It's one of many public buildings completed by the architect in his work during the period of reconstruction of the eastern part of the Somme.