General view of the center, around 2008
The church of Notre Dame de Louvières
details A pond near Louvières, the church is visible in the background
details The Pointe de la Percée and the Pêcherie pit, views of Vierville (from a paraglider)
(details) The Breakthrough in 1956
Geological section between Formigny, Louvières and Vierville. The valley is the one
Of Veret
Geological map at 1/50000
(1970)
(details) Geological map at 1/80000
(Old) see associated notice
An old handwritten map from the 17th century, showing the rocky banks off the Percée, Gruchi and 2 moulins à vent, Louvières and 3 water mills on a tributary of the Véret.
Tradition reports that the downstream 2 wheels were used to grind wheat and buckwheat on the one hand, and food for animals on the other. The building still exists, near the location of the upper wheel, but the materials have disappeared since the bankruptcy and sale of the mills in 1869. A beam of this building bore the date of 1610.
A old bakery is located in the manor of Romilly (see opposite), with a grain chamber and a renowned bread oven. The flours ground in the mills of Louvières were sifted at the manor before the manufacture of bread.
details the pond of the manor of Romilly
Louvières
14710
Municipality of the canton of Trévières, Arrondissement de Bayeux
Area: 419 ha, (the smallest area in the canton)
Population in 2006: 67 inhabitants (113 in 1926, 74 in 1999)
Origin of the name: from the Latin lupus "wolf" and the Latin suffix "-aria"
In 1195 his name is "Louveriae", in the 14thth century we note "Lupperiae" and also "Loveriae", then Loupvières in 1671.
The town borders the sea, with cliffs 40 to 45 meters high (Pointe de la Percée). From there, the land descends gently towards the village where we built the church and one of the most beautiful bell towers of Bessin. Before the war, it was a farmland, with small and medium-sized farms. Today, there are 3 farms, including an organic farm.
The heart of the village of Louvières, partitioned with limestone walls, offers a beautiful view of the marsh and the Véret valley. Its landscape qualities, with hollow paths, a remarkable cliff by the sea, cottages, farms, the château de Gruchy and the nearby hamlet, small one-story houses, covered with slate and lined with gardens, all this makes Louvières a pleasant hiking destination. fishing on footcan be practiced in the rocks under the cliffs, an ancient tradition and a resource for the peasants of the past.
Around 1930, scholars from Bessin found old documents from parish and notarial archives. We learn in particular how the parish was under the "patronage" of 3 local lords who, in exchange for their contribution to the construction of the church, in the 11th century, each had the right to present a parish priest to the consecration by the bishop. So there were 3 parish priests in Louvières. We also found how the church of Louvières was maintained in these remote times. Before the Revolution, parish priests were in charge of the civil status, and various activities that are now the responsibility of the State. Thus in Louvières, one of the parish priests was in charge of the boys' school, and the other 2 of the care of the sick. A nun of Sées took care of the education of the girls, including those in the nearby parish of Vierville.
During the release, 5 people lost their lives on the territory of this small commune:
A farmer Louise OXEANT (39 years old) and her son Bernard OXEANT (15 years old), who left early on June 6, 44 to milk the cows, were killed in the countryside by a lost plane bomb. This farmer was the paternal grandmother of the current mayor of Vierville.
A little later Louis BERNARD (36 years old) was killed by a bomb while leaving his trench-shelter to get milk for his family.
In addition, on August 6, 44, Clément MARIE (63 years old) and Julien ROBILLARD (36 years old) were killed by an explosive device.
The fights for the liberation of Louvières lasted 2 days, on June 7 and 8. These events are discussed in the following chapters:
"Mayor of the municipality, my father had known by the sub? Prefecture that a landing was imminent. On the night of June 5 to 6, about twenty Germans who were staying at home left. We then suspected something. The first bombings were heard around 6 a.m. We took shelter under the stairs of the house. We didn't even have time to win the trench my father had dug. On the 6th, two German officers returned to burn documents and one of them let us go: "The sea is on fire. "In the evening, the Germans set fire to three farmhouses around the house. Panicked, we then won our trench, accompanied by other families. On the 7th in the early morning, the field guard came to announce the arrival of the Americans. In fact, two GIs and a Canadian arrived in the yard of the farm and inspected our house from top to bottom to make sure that there was no more German. But we suspected? They hide some to force my father to get ahead of them in their excavation."
The cliff on June 30, 1944, an aerial reconnaissance of the Allies, who had just chosen the site of the future landing.
The organization of German defenses in Bessin.
The Fortified Point of the Percée (WN74) an exceptional observation position of the future Omaha Beach.
On June 6 at the castle of Gruchy, the story of the family of Loÿs who lived at the castle.
On June 7, the arrangements made by the Americans to resume the offensive on the morning of June 7 from their defensive position of the previous night in Vierville.
The forced march of the Rangers and the Cie C/116, supported by tanks, on June 7, towards the tip of the Hoc passing in front of Gruchy, without stopping there, nor seeking to eliminate the Germans who could be on their way.
The cleaning of the village of Louvières on June 7 and 8 by the 115th Infantry Regiment landed on June 6 at noon in Le Ruquet (Saint-Laurent).
The night march of the 175th regiment (landed in Saint-Laurent-Les Moulins on June 7) towards La Cambe by stopping a few hours at Gruchy Castle on June 7 in the evening, with the memories of Loÿs' family, and those, a little uncertain, of an American officer who liberated the castle.
During the period of operation of the Omaha Beach bridgehead, the 6th Special Engineer Brigade (6th ESB Engineer Special Brigade), was in charge of the west of the "Omaha Beachhead" beach. His PC had been installed at the castle of Gruchy.
details The manor of Romilly, near the village
The manor of Romilly was sold in 1669 by Gilles Canivet to Adrien de la Rivière, lord and patron of Louvières, who died in 1709.
Thomas de la Rivière, Adrien's eldest son, was appointed at the age of 30, as parish priest of one of the 3 portions of the parish, the other 2 parish priests being Pierre Quillet and Jacques Féron. He died in 1719 and would have lived in this mansion with his sisters.
At the beginning of the 18th century, Charles de la Rivière, who became lord of the fief of Romilly, found himself unable to serve the annuities attached to his estate, and he sold it in 1719 to a canon of Bayeux named Cosme de la Lande.
The mansion was then long the property of the descendants of Raoul de Louvières. It was rebuilt in the 18th century, around older remains dating from Henry IV. Inside there are beautiful fireplaces and a wrought iron staircase.
details the old laundry of Louvières, in which the laundresses rinsed the laundry that had soaked and boiled with ash (which served as detergent) in large washing machines. Small trucks with 2 wheels and arms were used to take the laundry down to the laundry.
It is also near the washhouse that the vintage boiler usually settled to boil the cider and extract the calvados.