Orville, Pas-de-Calais

Commune in Hauts-de-France, France

(2020–2026) Alain Débureaux^[1]Area11.95 km² (4.61 sq mi)Population360 • Density30/km² (78/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation64–148 m (210–486 ft)
(avg. 70 m or 230 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Orville (French pronunciation: [ɔʁvil] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.^[3]

Geography

Orville is situated 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Arras, at the junction of the D24 and D938 roads, by the banks of the river Authie, on the border with the department of the Somme.

History

In the early 20th century, the village of Orville was home to more than a thousand people, among them more than 500 Belgian workers who had been attracted by the presence of phosphate mines. The discovery of phosphates could be compared at the time to the gold rush of America's far-west. There were up to 30 quarries extracting the phosphate-rich sand. The phosphate mines that had been discovered in 1887 were in use until the beginning of the 20th century, when richer and cheaper Moroccan and Tunisian imports became available. Extraction of sand for building and other use was still operating in the 1970s. The present name of this site is "the buttes of Orville" and is currently used as an international renowned clay pigeon shooting ground.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	409	—
1975	318	−3.53%
1982	277	−1.95%
1990	325	+2.02%
1999	325	+0.00%
2007	339	+0.53%
2012	407	+3.72%
2017	402	−0.25%
Source: INSEE[4]

Places of interest

• The church of St.Martin, dating from the nineteenth century.
• The watermill on the river Authie.
• Two 18th-century farmhouses.
• Dovecotes.

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References