Arthez-d'Asson

Arthez-d'Asson (French pronunciation: [aʁtɛz dasɔ̃], literally Arthez of Asson; Occitan: Artés d'Asson) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Arthez-d'Asson
Commune
The Village
Location of Arthez-d'Asson
Arthez-d'Asson Arthez-d'Asson
Coordinates: 43°05′27″N 0°15′03″W
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Arrondissement	Pau
Canton	Ouzom, Gave et Rives du Neez
Intercommunality	CC Pays Nay
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Jean-Jacques Laffitte
Area 1	7.32 km2 (2.83 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	460
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	64058 /64800
Elevation	329–494 m (1,079–1,621 ft) (avg. 568 m or 1,864 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

Arthez-d'Asson is in the Ouzom Valley some 30 km south by south-east of Pau and 35 km east by south-east of Oloron-Sainte-Marie. The commune is almost entirely surrounded by the commune of Asson. Access to the commune is by road D126 which comes from Asson in the north passing through the commune and the village, continuing south up the Valley to Ferrières. The commune is almost entirely farmland although with patches of forest particularly along the river.

The Ouzom River flows through the length of the commune from south to north gathering some tributaries on the right bank, such as the Cau du Hau, the Cau du Gat, the Arriou Sec, and the Cau de la Heche, and continuing north to join the Gave de Pau near Coarraze.The Ruisseau de Thouet forms the north-western border of the commune as it flows north-east to join the Ouzom.

Places and Hamlets

• Les Aoules
• Arbes
• Arrascles dessus
• Arrecgros
• Arrecous
• Arribarrouy
• Boué
• Canet
• La Cantine
• Chartou
• Chourettes
• Chourrist
• Pé de la Coumette
• Garrenot
• Guilhamet
• Guilhem
• Habout
• Clot du Hour
• Hourna
• Jacob
• Labède
• Lacoue
• Lanot
• Larrabe
• Maupas
• Le Pont du Moulin
• Panan
• Peyré
• La Pine
• Cot de Tisnès
• Tort
• Turounet

Toponymy

The commune name in béarnais is Artés d'Asson. Michel Grosclaude indicated that the name Arthez possibly came from the mediterranean radical arte ("green oak" then "undergrowth"), with the collective basque suffix -etz. He proposed it in the sense of "Vegetation of the undergrowth".

The following table details the origins of the commune name and other names in the commune.

Name	Spelling	Date	Source	Page	Origin	Description
Asson	Assoo	11th century	Raymond	15	Saint-Pé	Village
	Assonium	1100	Raymond	15	Titles of Mifaget
	Villa quœe vocatur Asso	12th century	Raymond	15	Lescar
	Assun	13th century	Raymond	15	Fors de Béarn
	La vegarie d'Asson	1450	Raymond	15	Cour Major
	Saint Paul d'Asson	1750	Cassini
	Saint-Martin d'Asson	1790	Raymond	15
Balirot	Balirot	1863	Raymond	20		Hamlet
Le Bourdalat	Le Bourdalat	1863	Raymond	35		Hamlet
Garrenot	Garrenot	1863	Raymond	67		Hamlet

Sources:

• Raymond: Topographic Dictionary of the Department of Basses-Pyrenees, 1863, on the page numbers indicated in the table. (in French)
• Cassini: Cassini Map from 1750

Origins:

• Saint-Pé: Cartulary of the Abbey of Saint-Pé
• Lescar: Cartulary of Lescar
• Fors de Béarn
• Cour Major: Regulations of the Cour Major

History

Paul Raymond noted on page 14 of his 1863 dictionary that the commune was formed in 1749 by the union of the hamlets of Arthez-deçà and Arthez-delà from the commune of Asson.

Panoramic view from the right bank of the Ouzom

Administration

List of Successive Mayors

From	To	Name	Party	Position
1802		Charles d'Angosse		Chamberlain of the Emperor
1983	1989	Georges Nabarra
1995	2008	Michel Dourau
2008	2026	Jean-Jacques Laffitte

Inter-communality

The commune is part of four inter-communal structures:

• the Communauté de communes du Pays de Nay;
• the AEP association of Pays de Nay-Ouest;
• the Energy association of Pyrénées-Atlantiques;
• the inter-communal association for the construction of the CES of Nay;

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Arthéziens or Arthéziennes in French.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 1,102 —     1800 977 −1.71% 1806 1,011 0.57% 1821 1,148 0.85% 1831 1,372 1.80% 1836 1,320 −0.77% 1841 1,380 0.89% 1846 1,313 −0.99% 1851 1,279 −0.52% 1856 1,275 −0.06% 1861 1,220 −0.88% 1866 1,243 0.37% 1872 1,043 −2.88% 1876 1,075 0.76% 1881 1,042 −0.62% 1886 1,183 2.57% 1891 1,137 −0.79% 1896 1,152 0.26%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 1,116 −0.63% 1906 1,162 0.81% 1911 1,179 0.29% 1921 893 −2.74% 1926 874 −0.43% 1931 850 −0.56% 1936 785 −1.58% 1946 687 −1.32% 1954 621 −1.25% 1962 581 −0.83% 1968 538 −1.27% 1975 510 −0.76% 1982 478 −0.92% 1990 466 −0.32% 1999 508 0.96% 2007 502 −0.15% 2012 511 0.36% 2017 491 −0.80%
Source: EHESS and INSEE

Economy

Pasturage at Arthez-d'Asson

The commune is part of the Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) zone of Ossau-iraty.

Culture and Heritage

The béarnais singing group from Arthez-d'Asson Los de l'Ouzom was created during the 1980s.

Civil Heritage

• There was a railway line in the commune transporting minerals from the Baburet Iron Mine.
• The old Asson Ironworks was built around 1680.

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint-Paul (1906) is registered as a historical monument.

Facilities

Arthez-d'Asson has a primary school.

Notable people linked to the commune

• Jean-Paul d'Angosse, born in 1732 at Lembeye and died in 1798 at Arthez-d'Asson, was a military man, owner of an ironworks, French politician;
• Armand d'Angosse, born in 1776 at Arthez-d'Asson and died in 1852 at Corbère-Abères, owner of an ironworks, French politician;
• Charles d'Angosse, born in 1774 at Arthez-d'Asson and died in 1835 at Paris, owner of an ironworks, administrator and French politician.
• Jean Espagnolle, born in 1828 at Ferrières and died in 1918 at Arthez-d'Asson, was a churchman, preacher, and an honorary canon;
• Henri Bremond, born in 1865 at Aix-en-Provence and died in 1933 at Arthez-d'Asson, was a churchman, historian, and French literary critic, member of the Académie française.

See also

• Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

External links

• The Asson Ironworks on the Industrial Heritage of the Ouzom Valley website Archived 2010-06-08 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
• Arthez-d'Asson on Géoportail, National Geographic Institute (IGN) website (in French)
• St Paul d'Asson on the 1750 Cassini Map