Ablaincourt-Pressoir

Ablaincourt-Pressoir
Commune
The town hall of Ablaincourt
Location of Ablaincourt-Pressoir
Ablaincourt-Pressoir Ablaincourt-Pressoir
Coordinates: 49°50′26″N 2°49′23″E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Somme
Arrondissement	Péronne
Canton	Ham
Intercommunality	Terre de Picardie
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Dany Domont
Area 1	9.46 km2 (3.65 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	267
• Density	28/km2 (73/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Ablaincourtois, Ablaincourtoises
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	80002 /80320
Elevation	67–88 m (220–289 ft) (avg. 83 m or 272 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Ablaincourt-Pressoir (Picard: Ablaincourt-Pressor) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

The two villages were formerly separately administered, but were joined in 1966.

Geography

Ablaincourt-Pressoir is found in the Santerre sub-region, where early French Kings made their base, at Noyon.
The town is in a strategic position close to the intersections of the A1 Paris-Lille autoroute and the A29 autoroute between Amiens and Saint-Quentin. Two departmental roads meet nearby (the D150 and the D164). The town also an international TGV rail station, the Gare TGV Haute-Picardie, nicknamed "The sugar-beet station" named after the predominant crop of the area.

Etymology; Ancient forms of the names

• Ablaincourt

Abatix Curtis, Habelini Curtis (1046), Ablani Curtis, Ableni Curia (1106), Abbecourt (1144), Abiaucourt (1215), Ablaincort (1230), Ablincourt (1733) and finally, Ablaincourt, which signifies an abbey.

• Pressoir

Pressurs or Drêsur (1180).

History

• Ablaincourt

In 1215, Jean I de Nesle built a castle here. Remains of the motte can still be seen, which marks out the position of the keep.

In 1648, possession of the fiefdom of Ablaincourt passed from the Blattepière family to the Mathieu family.

During World War I Ablaincourt et Pressoir were at the centre of the Battle of the Somme. Both communes were totally ruined by the fighting.

Demographics

Data before 1966 in the table and graph below refer to the old commune Ablaincourt, before the merger with Pressoir. The population of Pressoir was 144 in 1851, 106 in 1896 and 64 in 1962.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1793 388 —     1800 413 +0.90% 1806 436 +0.91% 1821 466 +0.44% 1831 452 −0.30% 1836 444 −0.36% 1841 464 +0.89% 1846 433 −1.37% 1851 445 +0.55% 1856 419 −1.20% 1861 393 −1.27% 1866 368 −1.31% 1872 367 −0.05% 1876 353 −0.97% 1881 365 +0.67% 1886 334 −1.76% 1891 327 −0.42% 1896 312 −0.93%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1901 295 −1.11% 1906 281 −0.97% 1911 259 −1.62% 1921 76 −11.54% 1926 159 +15.91% 1931 180 +2.51% 1936 200 +2.13% 1946 158 −2.33% 1954 177 +1.43% 1962 191 +0.96% 1968 224 +2.69% 1975 194 −2.03% 1982 185 −0.68% 1990 206 +1.35% 1999 227 +1.08% 2009 261 +1.41% 2014 275 +1.05% 2020 267 −0.49%
Source: EHESS (1793-1999) and INSEE

People

• Eloi Driencourt, born in the hamlet of Bovent, Ablaincourt, doctor of the Sorbonne and for a while, advisor to Louis XV's queen, Maria Leszczyńska (1703–1768).
• Ludovic Hulin was elected in March 1995 and became the youngest mayor of Ablaincourt-Pressoir, at the age of 28.
• Reinhard Johannes Sorge, a German Roman Catholic poet and dramatist, died at a First Aid post located at the ruins of Ablaincourt-Pressoir on 20 July 1916. Sorge had been wounded by a hand grenade during the Battle of the Somme.

See also

• Communes of the Somme department