Aignes-et-Puypéroux

Aignes-et-Puypéroux is a commune located 25 kilometres due south of Angoulême, in the Highway D674 which passes through the heart of the commune north to south and on to Montmoreau-Saint-Cybard. The Highway D54 also runs through the heart of the commune from Perignac in the west to the D16 in the south-east. Both highways intersect at the village of Aignes-et-Puypéroux.[3]

The railway line from Paris-Austerlitz to Bordeaux-Saint-Jean passes through the southern part of the commune from north-east to south-west. The nearest train station is Montmoreau, some 10 km south of the commune, which is served by the TER running between Angoulême and Bordeaux.

Hamlets are numerous in the commune, and several have some importance:[4]

• Puypéroux in the far north where the abbey of the same name
• Chez Jambon, in the south of the commune
• Chez Boucher, in the western part
• Maine Guillien and Boisbourdeau, both south of the town of Aignes
• Les Héries and les Cardineaux, near the Moulin Brunet creek
• Le Bouet and la Gautrie near the road to Perignac
• La Croix, towards Chadurie
• Le Pétingaud and le Tavilard, close to the railway line.

The town is located in the limestone hills of the Aquitaine Basin dating from the Late Cretaceous period, as is all of the southern half of the department of Charente.

The limestone is in the form of chalk of the Campanian age over the entire municipal area. The ridge north of the town and a few peaks in the south are covered with deposits of the Tertiary period (Lutetian and Cuisian) composed of pebbles, sand and clay. The peaks and some slopes in the valleys exhibit formations of detrital rock and colluvium derived from bedrock and dated to the glaciations of the Quaternary period (Pliocene and Pleistocene).[5][6][7]

The high plateau between the valleys of two rivers, is covered by 66% agricultural land and 34% forests and semi-natural lands.[8]

The highest point of the commune is at an altitude of 201 metres, located at the northern end of the reservoir Croix de Verdelette. The lowest point is 84 metres, located at the southern edge of the commune along the Moulin d'Aignes Creek near its confluence with the Tude. The village of Aignes is at 145 metres above sea level 2.[4]

Bounded on the north-west by the stream of Chaverrut (name of the upstream part of the Arce),[4] a sub-tributary of the Charente and in the south by the Tude, a tributary of the Dronne and sub-tributary of the Dordogne. The territory of the municipality is split between the two basins of the Charente (17% of the area) and the Gironde (83% of the area).

There are also several streams, all tributaries of the Tude: the Dead Water Stream, Gouyat Pond stream (also called Ribérat in its upper part [4]), Moulin d'Aignes Creek, and the Moulin Brunet stream.[9]

The clayey nature of the soil on the peaks is favourable to some small water reservoirs and springs and fountains (Fontaine Jeannot, fontaine du Coursier, fontaine du Chat, source Saint-Gilles, etc.).[4]

As in three-quarters of the department in the south and west, the climate is oceanic Aquitaine.

Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Aignes-et-Puypéroux and Charente Department in 2007

The school is a RPI[13] between Chavenat and Aignes. Both Chavenat and Aignes have an elementary school.[14]

The commune has a field for ULM (Ultralight aviation). The club is called the ULM club montmorélien.[15]

The derelict chateau

• Castle: in the village there is a chateau dating back to the end of the 18th century. The grounds of the castle are a "listed site".[16][17]

Puypéroux Abbey

Puypéroux Abbey (11th century)[18] was founded before 925 according to tradition[19] by Saint Gilles; the church being rebuilt at the latest in the middle of the 11th century due to:

• the small embellishments in the walls of the nave
• the decoration of the Imposts in that part
• the imposts on the side and on the apse

All are reminiscent of the same era of primitive Romanesque architecture.

The transept, from a little later period, contains very archaic sculptures of great archaeological value.[20] Only the facade was rebuilt in the 12th century, around the year 1130. It has an octagonal dome and a pentagonal choir with the original font.

The site of the abbey is a "listed site".[16][17]

Other sites of interest

• The Tomb of Saint Gilles is located in the second bay of the church of Puypéroux.
• The Puypéroux Fountain is a place of processions during drought.

• Puypéroux Abbey
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  View from the D54 of Puypéroux Abbey
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• The Church of Saint-Martial of Aignes: there is no documentation of the date of this old church. The nave, in very poor condition, was repaired in 1838 and 1879. The bases of the columns, their curved imposts, and their method of construction suggest a date for the oldest parts of the last quarter of the 12th century. The remains of a funeral litter are visible on the north wall of the nave.[21]

• Church of Saint-Martial
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  Church of Saint-Martial of Aignes
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  Old cross in the cemetery
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  An Oratory on the road to Puypéroux
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  Public weighbridge at the Church
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  The War memorial
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  A Wayside Cross

European mink

In the north, straddling the communes of Aignes and Chadurie, the Landes de Bois Rond are classified as a Natural Zone of ecological interest for fauna and flora (ZNIEFF) of type I.[22]

Many types of wildlife can be seen: nesting birds such as the hen harrier, the nightjar, the Dartford warbler and the common grasshopper warbler; amphibians such as the yellow-bellied toad, the tree frog, the marbled newt and the natterjack toad; also plants such as long leaf oats and the bicolor Phalangère.

The Valley of the Tude and the valley of the Arce are classified as Natural Zones of ecological interest for fauna and flora of type II under French regulations,[23][24] and zones of Natura 2000 from a European point of view.[17] They are characterized mainly by the presence of the European mink, an endangered species.