They are politicians, amateur archaeologists, singers, aviators…
In their own way, they have shaped the history of Audenge. Come and meet them!
Dates
- 1275: Mention of the cadastral motte at the l’Escalopier estate
- 1764: Arrival of the first salt maker
- 1798: Dauberval buys the seigniorial castle of Certes
- 1836: The town becomes the owner of 4.000 hectares of moorland and all the land in the town centre
- 1843: Ernest Valeton de Boissière inherits the Certes estate (Domaine de Certes)
- 1846: First ancient finds on the La Vignotte archaeological site
- 1865: The Goncourt brothers come to Audenge
- 1878-1880: Construction of Saint Paul’s church
- 1905: Construction of the Villa Isabelle
- 1912: Extension of the Cours Gambetta school, now the media library
- 1917: Arrival of Canadian lumberjacks
- 1978: End of the train service to Audenge
- 2017: Construction of the market hall
- 2023: Inauguration of the landscaped public park
Short histories
The texts are taken from newsletters and books published by the Historical and Archaeological Society of Arcachon and the Pays de Buch.
The archaeologist custom officer
At La Vignotte, a former customs officer found remains dating back to the Iron Age and to the Gallo-Roman period. Charles Braquehaye, founding member of the Archaeological Society of Bordeaux talks about the items discovered at La Vignotte.
In 1873, a former customs officer, Mr Dumur, provided me with information about some important discoveries he had made in 1848 in a field called « la Vignotte » that he owned in the commune of Audenge. At a depth of 50 cm, in the sand that forms the soil of the area, he had found a large number of small black pots arranged in fours, one on each corner of terracotta tiles measuring around 10 cm on each side. In the same place, he had also collected a number of pots and vases, some red, some grey-black, and a few glass objects, dishes and flasks. A terracotta statuette representing a naked woman (certainly Venus), the head of another woman and a larger one of a man with a beard were also removed from the same trench.
Unfortunately, all these curious remains were lost for more than 25 years. Mr Dumur had offered all the most remarkable pieces to his boss, Mr du Koly, Director of Customs in Bordeaux. The collection of this enlightened amateur was sold in Paris after his death. The little vases had been used as toys for many years by young children, who destroyed at least a hundred of them, I am told.
I went to Audenge in 1874. Mr Bézian, a justice of the peace and a corresponding member of the Historical Monuments Commission, assured me that he had seen for himself that there were a great many vases and much debris in the ground and that they undoubtedly dated from the time when Gaul was occupied by the Romans. The small black pots, made of fine clay, had no handles and their bodies were bulging like pears. The symmetrical layout and the large number of tiles, each supporting four similar small vases, clearly indicated a funerary purpose.
The castle that was lost and found
In the Middle Ages, there were two cadastral mottes (an ancient form of fortification made up of a tower erected on an earthen mound) to be found on the local territory, one at Certes and one at l’Escalopier. The motte at Certes dates from the 14th century while the one at l’Escalopier is noted in a document dating from 1275. They both still exist today. Members of the Historical and Archaeological Society of Arcachon and the Pays de Buch have visited the ruins of the l’Escalopier site.
At the foot of the largest mound, where the castle was built, around fifteen very large pieces of wood were removed from the old ditches and piled up in several places on the neighbouring field. Having been in salt water for six centuries, these beams had been preserved from deterioration caused by insects, mosses, fungi and temperature. They had a fibrous appearance and looked like charred wood. They were between 30 and 33 centimetres in diameter. None of them were whole; they all looked broken. One of these beams, a ridge beam about two metres long, bearing the characteristic notches of the pieces intended to be assembled, and two others, were taken to the Audenge town hall and put in safekeeping
We took a section of wood from one of the larger pieces to have it examined and dated. The department at the University of Paris, which was supposed to date it using the tree-ring method (dendrochronology) was unable to respond. However, the cut was excellent. Along with the silt, the excavation revealed quantities of oyster shells, which would indicate that oysters were widely consumed in the 13th and 14th centuries.
The silt was dumped on either side of the ditches and dried. Careful examination of the surface of the spoil yielded a large number of fragments, which appear to be those of large domestic pots and jars. This grey-coloured pottery has been dated to the 14th century. Finally, fragments of Roman tiles were found.
The castle site, the beams and the pottery debris were successively examined by Mr Gautier, Director of Antiquities, Mr Thierry, the Antiquities Service correspondent for our region, and Mr Fayolle-Lussac, Professor at the Bordeaux School of Architecture. All their opinions were in agreement: this is indeed the site of a feudal castle from the 10th to 12th centuries, typical in many respects.
Jules and Edmond de Goncourt at Audenge
In 1865, the two Goncourt brothers were in Audenge. They were very surprised to learn that the famous Dauberval had lived in Audenge. Here is an account of their visit.
A surprise was waiting for us in Audenge, a small village half-sunken in the sands. We had entered the postman’s house during a transport relay. Jules de Goncourt felt his eyes drawn to two medallions decorating the wall: they were portraits of the famous dancer Dauberval and his wife, very finely executed. Below the first, it read: Jean Bercher Dauberval, born 19 August 1742. Below the second: Théodore Dauberval and these two captions: « His talents seduce, his spirit leads » and « Friendship alone can appreciate his heart ».
Regarding the lady, neither age nor place of birth were given, no doubt out of gallantry. This head of Theodore, coiffed in the antique style, was of a beautiful character. Both portraits had been drawn by Lefèvre and engraved by Ledoux.
Surprised, as one might imagine, by such an encounter in the middle of the moors, I learned from the old postman that Monsieur Dauberval had owned land between Audenge and Lanton. And what a piece of land, mercy! The horse that drove us across it sank knee-deep in it.
A doctor, a priest and a wedding
Vincent Broton was a priest of Spanish origin who had been the parish priest of Audenge since 1821. Numa Bézian was the town doctor. A dispute forced Mr Bézian to change his wedding plans.
Mr Bézian was chatting in the street with a friend of the parish priest when a girl « who lived on Father Broton’s property » passed in front of them:
« Doctor, » remarked the priest’s friend, « this girl looks like she’s pregnant ».
« Yes, » replied Bézian, « she’s got a big belly. She’s certainly pregnant ».
Was the doctor being ironic? The report doesn’t say, but the conversation was reported to Father Broton, who broke with Bézian, with whom he had always been on excellent terms and who was his doctor, a doctor who had never asked for fees and who had always replied to Father Broton, asking what he owed: « Don’t worry about it, Father, there’s nothing to pay ».
The health officer realised that it was not nothing, when it turned out that his quarrel with Father Broton was definitive. He then demanded the fees for his past services. He demanded them three times, then summoned Father Broton before the Justice of the Peace.
On the day of the hearing, the courtroom was full. The following dialogue took place between the judge and the priest:
The judge: Do you acknowledge that you are indebted to Mr Bézian for the sum he is claiming from you for care and remedies given to you?
Father Broton: I don’t owe Mr Bézian everything he’s asking me for. I gave him some quinine, which he should take into account.
Acknowledging this, Mr Bézian immediately deducted the value of the quinine from his bill.
The judge: Do you acknowledge that you owe Mr Bézian the remaining sum?
Broton: No, by virtue of the article of the Civil Code on prescriptions, I declare that I owe Mr Bézian nothing.
The judge: Would you swear an oath to affirm that you owe Mr Bézian nothing?
Broton: I swear that, by virtue of the article in the Civil Code, I owe Mr Bézian nothing.
Three years later, Numa Bézian wanted to marry Pétronille Duvignau, but he didn’t want his marriage to be blessed by Father Broton. The couple therefore decided to get married in Gujan.
The oyster farmer salt makers
In the 18th century, the Marquis de Civrac decided to establish oyster beds on his estate.
These were cultivated by the salt makers.
When, in 1764, the Marquis de Civrac embarked on oyster farming, he had certain, precise objectives in mind: to cultivate green oysters as in Marennes and to sell this production on markets where prices were high, such as Paris and Versailles.
Having assumed that oyster production would be associated with salt production – or at least that it would run parallel and complement it – Civrac planned for the salt workers to produce oysters along the dykes.
The contract with the salt workers specified a 20-year commitment, working conditions and social benefits. The salt workers would receive a dowry of 120 pounds in the event of marriage. The contract stipulated that, in addition to working in the salt marshes, they must « as in Saintonge, maintain three oyster beds capable of producing green oysters containing 50.000 to 60.000 oysters. They will not be able to take these oysters, which belong to the lord ».
Ernest Valeton de Boissière and the notion of inheritance
Ernest Valeton de Boissière was opposed to the idea of inheritance. He believed that children had no right to inherit from their parents. In his view, inheritance was a matter for the State, which should use it to develop education. In 1889, he set out his ideas in a leaflet in which he also referred to the popular General Boulanger.
« A hundred years ago our forefathers abolished the hereditary privileges of the nobility. It would be a great glory for the universal suffrage of 1889 to abolish the hereditary privileges of Fortune.
All we have to do is want it; a vote is enough.
The rights of children to inherit from their parents, established by French law, are a remnant of monarchical prejudice. It is time to revise this.
In the United States of America, parents are perfectly free to disinherit their children.
When a ship’s captain dies, make his son a ship’s captain. Well, do not make a millionaire out of a millionaire’s son.
Wealth is a powerful force: in the right hands, it is fertile for progress; in the wrong hands, it is harmful or sterile.
As children have no right to inherit from their parents, this inheritance reverts to the Nation, to the State.
During their lifetime, parents have the right to dispose of their property as they wish; they can pass it on to their children by gift in their lifetime in return for a life annuity. But when they die, their will dies with them and can have no posthumous effect; they must be denied the right to testate.
The French people are discontented, and rightly so. They are weighed down by indirect taxes that take from workers one-fifth to one-quarter of their wages. Work is hampered by duties on patents, stamps, registration, transfers, etc. But there is a very simple way to get rid of them.
But there is a very simple way of eliminating all these reasons for discontent, and that is to vote for the absolute heredity of the State, which will produce 4 to 5 billions in budgetary resources.
That’s the saviour you’ve found, and you don’t need a Caesar to embody it.
On the other hand, the State has a strict duty to ensure that all children develop their physical and intellectual faculties equally; this is a consequence of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. This obligation involves an annual expenditure of more than two billions.
Teachers’ salaries should be high enough to attract the nation’s elite into their ranks. Children should have the right to schooling, clothing and food, and should be able to enter competitive examinations free of charge to pursue higher education. Poor mothers should even receive help when they are about to give birth and a fortnight afterwards, as was the practice in some industrial establishments in Mulhouse.
What prosperity France would gain from the development of so much intelligence that remains atrophied today! And the sons of the rich themselves, most of whom live in idleness, ignorance and libertinism! They would be obliged to work and use the intellectual superiority that should result from their parentage.
I was told that fathers would no longer have the same enthusiasm for work. I don’t believe it! Is this the way to quench our thirst for gold? But, as we have already said, if fathers have confidence in their children, they can pass on their property to them while they are still alive, as many of our country farmers do, handing over to their sons the land they have worked so hard to earn in exchange for a pension.
The bourgeoisie will fight with all its might against the law that will establish the heredity of the State; the Senate will get in the way; so an overwhelming vote is needed.
Forward workers! Form the great party of the heredity of the State. You have right on your side. I count your strength, so use these for the salvation of the fatherland! Appoint only honest and firm deputies who undertake to vote, from the beginning of the legislative session, for the absolute heredity of the State, the refusal of the right to testate and the compulsory conversion of all bearer securities into registered securities. Let these be the Cahiers of 1889!
It is said that many Republicans, tired of the status quo in which we are floundering, have decided to vote for Boulanger, with the aim of bringing about a violent crisis from which good can emerge. By voting for the heredity of the State, they will obtain a transformation superior to anything that your Boulanger could provide, and they will not run the risk of losing the Republic. »
The american uncle
Ernest Valeton de Boisssière had strong political ideas: he was anti-clerical, a socialist and a disciple of Fourrier and Saint-Simon. An opponent of Emperor Napoleon III, he had to leave France.
In 1869, he left for the United States and bought 1,300 hectares of uncultivated land in Kansas. There he realised his dream of a socially ideal business. Vines, forests, cereals and fruit trees were planted. Vast buildings were erected where people could sleep, work and learn. In fact, a school and a library with 2,500 books were built. Silk production was an important activity. The estate was known locally as Silkville, the city of silk. It won several prizes at the Philadelphia World’s Fair in 1876 and the Paris World’s Fair in 1886. Ernest Valeton de Boissière returned to France in 1892. He donated Silkville to an American charity, which turned it into an orphanage.
The church « affair »
Audenge has had two churches. The first was near the present-day cemetery, on the site of the Tonne à Jeannot roundabout. In 1841, its poor condition required repairs, particularly to the bell tower. This issue divided the people of Audenge. It wasn’t long before people started talking about the church « affair ».
- 1852 : The Prefecture was informed of the poor state of the church.
- 1864 : Cardinal Donnet asked for the church to be rebuilt elsewhere. The parish priest, Jean-Joseph Delzangles, agreed.
- 18 February 1872 : By 7 votes to 3, the Town Council decided that a new church would be built in Les Places. Communal heathland would be sold or granted to cover the cost. At the same time, architect Jean-Jules Mondet was officially appointed to inspect the church. He concluded that it could not be repaired. A new one would have to be built. However, many people in Audenge were keen to keep their old church. They sent a petition to the Prefect.
- 1873 : Mayor Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau wrote to the Prefect asking for the church to be rebuilt as soon as possible, as council meetings were becoming stormy and some residents were threatening not to be buried in the cemetery if the church was moved. For reasons of national policy, Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau was removed from his post as mayor. His successor opposed the building of a church in Les Places.
- 1876 : Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau resumed his position as mayor. A decree signed by the President of the Republic authorised construction. The demolition of the old church was decided by a resolution of the Town Council. The materials were reused to build the new church. The new site was chosen « at the fairground ». It was equidistant from the village and Certes.
- 1878 : Construction began under the direction of architect Mondet.
- 7 September 1880 : Saint Paul’s church was signed off, followed by the installation of the 17th century statue of saint Yves.
Saint Sausage
Ernest Valeton de Boissière died on 12 January 1894.
On 17 December 1899, the Audenge Town Council decided that « In order to perpetuate and honour the memory of M. de Boissière as a benefactor of the schools, it is decided that each year, on the anniversary of his death, a pilgrimage will be organised to his place of burial. That all the school children, without exception, be led on that day by their teachers to the tomb of M. de Boissière, to where they will march in procession. » Every 12 January, the school lunch, consisting of vegetable soup with bread and carbohydrates, was improved by the addition of a sausage. It was a celebration, hence the name « Sainte Saucisse » (Saint Sausage). In the 1960s, the sausage was replaced by a snack. This tradition came to an end around 1970. It has reappeared in recent years.
Transporting the statue of saint Yves
Saint Yves is a Breton saint, patron saint of sailors and lawyers, and is considered a healing saint in Audenge. On 19 May, the saint’s feast day, many pilgrims come to ask him for help. To do so, they place a cloth on the statue at the site of the problem. They then apply the cloth to their body or that of a sick person who is unable to move.
The statue had to be transported from the old church to the new one in Audenge. On reaching the bridge over the Ayguemorte stream, legend has it that the four men carrying the « miraculous » statue pretended to drop it into the stream. They are said to have been paralysed in the same year.
The Canadians in Audenge
In 1916, the Allies in the Great War were running out of wood to build trenches and railway lines. The French government feared that the forest would be devastated by uncontrolled logging. It was decided to call in Canadian lumberjacks. Eighteen teams from the Canadian forestry corps were mobilised to the Landes de Gascogne forest in June 1917. During their stay, they regularly helped the local population and made many contacts. Some Canadian foresters married Audenge women.
The plane trees of Audenge
On 8 February 1889, the Audenge Town Council decided to plant plane trees to replace the acacias in the Allée de Boissière, Boulevard Gambetta and around the new church. Today, they are all listed with a small plaque on their trunks.
Plane trees are susceptible to canker stain, a disease caused by a microscopic fungus that is highly contagious and fatal to the infected tree. When a tree is infected, to protect the other trees, it has to be cut down, along with any others in the vicinity. This is what happened in 2016, and the town was obliged by prefectoral decree to cut down and stump 72 plane trees near the church.
In recent years, bird boxes have been installed on the plane trees for two kinds of swallows barn swallows and house martins as well as swifts in order to combat mosquitos.
- 1889 : The plane trees are planted
- 222 planes (number of plane trees – landscaped park and Rue du Marché)
- 25- 35 m tall
The sculptures in the park
There are several works of art on display in the landscaped Park. They were created by local artists.
« Te are nuy » (‘The Great Wave’ in Maori) by Dominique Pios is made of sequoia wood. The work is both a woman and a wave, with the artist seeking to « stimulate the imagination ».
« Aque » by René Tamanini features four dolphins, associated with the four cardinal points and the four elements – water, earth, fire and air. For the artist, the dolphins symbolise harmony and balance between human beings, animals and nature. Their eyes are made of stained glass, in the same colours as the old Audenge logo before it was redesigned: green, orange, blue and white.
« ALMAIRIS » or « Arbre de vie », by the artists Soco and CRE.ART METAL, symbolises solidity and immortality, but also represents our forests. This metal tree of life bears ceramic spheres representing the continents and polar regions. For the artist Soco, it’s all about « being united to preserve our beautiful blue planet ».
François Eymery de Durfort (1727-1773)
François Eymery de Durfort, Marquis de Civrac, was Baron of Audenge and Captal Lord of Certes.
He gave Audenge part of its current setting.
The creation and operation of the salt marshes meant that an outside workforce was needed. Thirty-two salt workers arrived from Saintonge. To house them, the Marquis created a new district, Les Places, which is now part of Audenge town centre.
Jean Bercher dit Dauberval (1742-1806)
Jean Bercher, known as Dauberval, was a dancer and choreographer, and ballet master at the Opéra de Paris and the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.
In 1798, Dauberval bought the seigniorial château of Certes for his wife Madeleine Crespé, known as « Mademoiselle Théodore », principal dancer at the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. After his death, Dauberval mismanaged the Certes Estate (Domaine de Certes). He borrowed, leased land, speculated and ruined himself.
The stage near the church bears the couple’s name.
Jean Frix Numa Bézian (1800-1879)
Jean Fritz Numa Bézian was a doctor in Audenge, before becoming its mayor between 1830 and 1845. It was thanks to him that, in 1836, the town was able to acquire 4.000 hectares of heathland and all the land in the town centre. Audenge owes part of its heritage to him. Jean Fritz Numa Bézian was the grandfather of the singer Jeanne Saulier.
Ernest Valeton de Boissière (1811-1894)
In 1843, Ernest Valeton de Boissière inherited the Certes Estate (Domaine de Certes). He transformed the salt marshes into fish reservoirs and planted maritime pines on the moor.
He bought the houses of the salt-marsh farmers to turn them into a nursery school and built a refectory, providing free lunches for the children. He donated these two facilities to the commune. Ernest Valeton de Boissière is buried on his estate in Certes.
Jeanne Saulier (1865-1940)
Marie-Jeanne Sauclière, known as Jeanne Saulier, was a singer and granddaughter of Numa Bézian.
After winning first prize for piano at the Bordeaux Conservatoire, she went to Paris to try her luck. Hired by the Théâtre des Variétés, she played and sang in numerous operettas, including Orphée aux enfers, La Vie parisienne and La Fille de madame Angot. Jeanne Saulier’s house in Audenge still exists. It is on the Avenue du Vieux Bourg. It is privately owned.
Jacques Duvigneau (1832-1902)
Jacques Duvigneau, known as « Chéri », was mayor of Audenge from 1870 to 1885, general councillor and deputy under the Third Republic.
Audenge owes its new church, railway station, town hall and the avenue linking the station to the church to him. At the end of his term as mayor, his brother, Armand Duvigneau, succeeded him. His house stands on the corner of Rue du Port and Allées de Boissière. It is privately owned.
Armand Duvigneau (1844 1928)
Armand Duvigneau was the younger brother of Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau, mayor of Audenge from 1885 to 1922.
He continued the development of the « new Audenge » begun by his brother. Among his achievements were the public garden, the avenue of plane trees on Boulevard Gambetta and the harbour equipped with a flushing basin that was to become a swimming facility. It was also thanks to him that the people of Audenge were supplied with electricity.
The Duvigneau brothers brought Audenge into the 20th century.
Charles Belin (1860-1937)
Charles Belin was a pharmacist from Bordeaux who had owned the l’Escalopier Estate (Domaine de l’Escalopier) since 1907. He built the Villa Isabelle, named after his daughter.
His son-in-law Raoul Brun set up a sawmill in Audenge, which manufactured wooden crates that were sent by train all over France. The wagons were loaded directly inside the building. The sawmill was a major employer in the commune, particularly for the people of Audenge.
Pierre Labat (1920-2013)
Pierre Labat was a graduate of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales. After working in France and Mali, he retired to Audenge, where he was born.
He joined the Historical and Archaeological Society of Arcachon and the Pays de Buch, becoming its president in 1984 and honorary president in 2005. He wrote extensively about the history of Audenge, with great scientific rigour. The history he describes remains accessible, being « neither too learned nor not learned enough ». In 2011, Pierre Labat was awarded the Medal of the Town of Audenge.
Louis Delrieu (1889-1976)
Louis Delrieu was an aviator who distinguished himself in both world wars.
Employed in 1919 by the Société des lignes Latécoère, he inaugurated the first mail link between Casablanca and Dakar in 1923, a long and dangerous journey of 2.765 km. He was one of Latécoère’s most legendary pilots, finishing his career as an airfield commander in Nantes and then Ajaccio. Louis Delrieu was awarded the Croix de Guerre, Officer of the Legion of Honour and Officer of the White Eagle (Serbia’s highest honour). He lived and died in Audenge.
Pierre Barreau (1918-1993)
Pierre Barreau, known as « René », was a primary school teacher, town councillor for Audenge from 1971 to 1983 and a member of the Historical and Archaeological Society of Arcachon and the Pays de Buch.
A keen archaeologist, he wrote extensively on the Vignotte site, which was occupied from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, and he carried out many excavations on the Maignan site. Pierre Barreau was also secretary of the « La Mouette » swimming club. It is thanks to him that the swimming facility is named after Émile Ortel.
Robert Gadou (1919-2008)
Robert Gadou was a sailor on board the submarine Amazone. In 1941, he joined the Free French Forces and in 1942 joined the First Battalion of Marine Commandos, for which he carried out intelligence missions.
On 6 June 1944, Robert Gadou landed at the Pointe du Hoc in Normandy with Commandant Kieffer’s commandos. He took part in the liberation of Ouistreham, Pegasus Bridge and Amfreville. On 10 September 1945, he was awarded the Military Medal and, in 2004, the Legion of Honour. On retirement, he moved to Audenge, where he had spent part of his youth.
Camille Descas (1857-1933)
Camille Descas was born into a rich family of Bordeaux wine merchants and he purchased the Certes Estate (Domaine de Certes).
In 1906, he decided to transform the estate. He added a belvedere to the château and redesigned the ground floor. In the park, he had a pond dug and a false grotto created. He enlarged and modernised the estate’s farm buildings. One of his sons, Roger Descas, was mayor of Audenge from 1925 to 1944.
Allées Ernest de Boissière – 1893
This is the site of the Les Places neighbourhood, developed by the Marquis de Civrac (1727-1773). He had homes built here to house the salt-makers from Saintonge who worked in the salt meadows of the Certes Estate (Domaine de Certes).
Ernest Valeton de Boissière (1811-1894) was the owner of the Certes Estate (Domaine de Certes). He developed fish farming and forestry. He bequeathed the proceeds from the sale of all his possessions to the town of Audenge to be used for the public education of boys and girls, as well as the upkeep of the nursery school. To honour his memory, at the end of the 19th century, the Town Council decided that Les Places would henceforth be known as Avenue Ernest de Boissière. However, it was the name « allées » and not « avenue » that stuck!
Villa Isabelle – 1905
Isabelle was the name of the villa owner’s daughter. He was Charles Belin, a pharmacist from Bordeaux. His wife, Marie Dupin, inherited the site where the villa now stands. Their daughter, Isabelle Belin, was born in Audenge in 1890.
The Villa Isabelle is an « Arcachonnaise ». This style developed on the Basin from the 1860s onwards. The ceramic decorations and large overhanging roof are characteristic of this style.
The Villa Isabelle became municipal property on 27 March 1985.
It now houses a museum run by the Amicale des Anciens Combattants d’Audenge. The veterans’ museum displays archives and collections from the wars of 1870, 1914-1918, 1939-1945, Indochina, North Africa and OPEX (France’s overseas military operations).
Saint Paul’s church – 1880
On 18 February 1872, Mayor Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau and his council decided to build a new church. Work began in 1878. The contractor was Pierre Lafon de Salles, and the architect was Jean-Jules Mondet from Bordeaux. The location of the new church was not chosen at random. Mayor Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau wanted to create a town centre equidistant from the Bourg and Certes.
Typical of 19th-century religious architecture, Saint Paul’s church is 32 m long and 15 m wide. Its bell tower is 35 m high. It houses two bells dated 1817 and 1869. At the entrance is a bas-relief entitled « La tempête apaisée » (« The Storm is Stilled »), by Claude Bouscau, who was born in Arcachon and whose ancestors were from Audenge. He was awarded the Grand Prix de Rome for sculpture in 1935. The many stained glass windows were created by Henri Feur, a glass painter from Bordeaux.
At night, their colours are reflected outside.
Statue of saint Yves
Saint Yves is the patron saint of sailors and lawyers. His statue in the church dates from the 17th century. He is the patron saint of Audenge and is considered a healing saint. On 19 May, the saint’s feast day, many pilgrims still come to place a cloth on the statue at the site where there is pain. They then apply the cloth to the body of a sick person. This religious fervour regarding a healing saint is unique in the Arcachon Basin. Every year in May, a major festival is held in Audenge in his honour.
Market hall – 2017
There has been a market here since 1932. Pedlars and fairground vendors were granted permission to set up temporarily in Audenge to sell their wares. In 1936, they were allowed to set up on the 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays of each month on the Allées de Boissière near the Villa Isabelle. Three years later, the locations were defined in the Rue de l’Église. The municipal market was born. The market hall was built in 2017.
The market is held every Tuesday of the month from 8am to 1pm.
The Town Hall – 1880 / 1917 / 1972
Before the town hall was built in 1880, the town council met in a small communal house built in the mid-19th century. In 1878, Jacques « Chéri » Duvigneau, Mayor of Audenge, decided to create a town centre. The first step was to build the town hall. But this was done in several stages.
In 1897, Bordeaux architect Gustave Alaux built a complex comprising the town hall, school, magistrates’ court and teacher’s lodgings. In 1913, it was decided to make changes to the town hall. The municipality did not take possession of the premises until 1917. Arcachon architect Marcel Ormières planned extensions for the schools. He added 2 canteens, 1 kitchen and 2 upstairs apartments for two pairs of teachers.
On 18 December 1968, the town hall was partly destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1972 to the plans by Marcel Ormières.
Square des frères Duvigneau – Early 20th cent
Monument to Ernest Valeton de Boissière – 1912
War memorial – 1921
Armand Duvigneau, mayor of Audenge, decided to create a public garden linking the Allées de Boissière to the Boulevard Gambetta. The architect Marcel Ormières drew up the plans. At the time, it was surrounded by a low wall adorned with magnificent wrought-iron railings.
In 1912, the Town Council decided to create a monument in memory of Ernest Valeton de Boissière (1811-1894), a benefactor of the town. Marcel Ormières designed the monument, and the bust was created by the sculptor Achard, who was awarded a 3rd class medal at the Salon des Artistes Français in 1903.
On 8 June 1919, the Town Council decided to erect a monument to the dead in honour of the Audenge soldiers who died in the 1914-1918 war. Marcel Ormières designed a monument measuring 4.30 m by 4 m and 7.20 m high. It is framed by two statues: a dying soldier defending the French flag, 2.10 m tall, and a winged Victory, 1.90 m tall, bearing a wreath of oak and laurel leaves. The laurel symbolises immortality and military virtues. The oak symbolises strength and civic virtues.
The public garden is now known as the Square of the Duvigneau brothers, mayors of Audenge between 1870 and 1922.
Old train station – 1884
It was inaugurated on Sunday 6 January 1884, during a ceremony celebrating the opening of the section of line linking Facture to Arès. It is a first-class station consisting of a central building measuring 72 m² with a first floor. Inside, there is a vestibule, two offices and the stationmaster’s accommodation. The waiting room and attic are located in a 32 m² annex. The goods platform is bordered by a 54 m² hall. A small building housed the lamp room (where lamps and lanterns were stored) and toilets. From 1905 onwards, « pleasure » trains ran in the summer for tourists.
The railway line linking Facture to Biganos was closed to passenger traffic in 1971. In 1978, freight traffic came to an end.
The schools in Audenge
Audenge had a school that proved too small. In 1842, Ernest Valeton de Boissière, owner of the Domaine de Certes, bought a salt-worker’s house to accommodate young children. In 1880, he had another similar house demolished to build the nursery school, the cost of which he covered. It could accommodate 80 pupils, both boys and girls. On one of his plots of land, he built a 100 m² canteen which provided free midday meals for schoolchildren. Between 1880 and 1883, a new school was built. It was part of a complex with the town hall and the magistrate’s court and had four classrooms. In 1912, Armand Duvigneau, Mayor of Audenge, commissioned the construction of a large school building. It now houses the media library.