Auchel
Encyclopedia
Auchel is a commune
and seat of a canton
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
, at the junction of the D183 and the D183E roads.
deposits in the area in 1851, the town grew as the demand for
coal increased in France. This old mining town had close to 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s.
The coal recession in the late 1960s lead to a constant decline in population, despite the efforts of the municipality to attract and keep people here during and after the recession.
, in the county of Kent
, England. Iserlohn
, in North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
and seat of a canton
Cantons of France
The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
Geography
An ex-mining town, nowadays a light industrial & farming commune, situated 8 miles (12.9 km) southwest of Béthune and 34 miles (54.7 km) southwest of LilleLille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
, at the junction of the D183 and the D183E roads.
History
Following the discovery of coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
deposits in the area in 1851, the town grew as the demand for
coal increased in France. This old mining town had close to 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s.
The coal recession in the late 1960s lead to a constant decline in population, despite the efforts of the municipality to attract and keep people here during and after the recession.
Population
Places of interest
- The church of St.Martin, dating from the sixteenth century.
- A museum about coal miningCoal miningThe goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
.
Twin towns
West MallingWest Malling
West Malling is a historic market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of about 3000-5000.-Landmarks:...
, in the county of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England. Iserlohn
Iserlohn
Iserlohn is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region.-Geography:...
, in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Germany.
Famous people
Auchel is the birthplace of:- Augustin Lesage, French spiritualist artist. Lesage is one of the most fascinating figures associated with Art Brut
- Fred Personne, actor
- Xavier BeauvoisXavier BeauvoisXavier Beauvois is a French actor, film director and screenwriter. His film Don't Forget You're Going to Die was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize....
, actor, director and screenwriter. - Pierre LaiglePierre LaiglePierre Laigle is a retired French footballer. He last played for AS Saint-Priest in the Championnat de France amateur....
, football player