Annepont

Annepont
Commune
Watermill
Location of Annepont
Annepont Show map of France Annepont Show map of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Coordinates: 45°50′38″N 0°36′49″W / 45.844°N 0.6136°W / 45.844; -0.6136
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Charente-Maritime
Arrondissement	Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Canton	Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Intercommunality	Vals de Saintonge Communauté
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Francis Boizumault^[1]
Area ¹	8.81 km² (3.40 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	394
• Density	45/km² (120/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	17011 /17350
Elevation	3–62 m (9.8–203.4 ft) (avg. 14 m or 46 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Annepont (French pronunciation: [anpɔ̃]) is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern France.

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Geography

Annepont is located some 15 km south-west of Saint-Jean-d'Angely and 13 km north of Saintes. The A10 autoroute (E5) passes through the west of the commune but has no exit in or near the commune. Access to the commune is by the D127 from Taillebourg to the south-west passing through the village and continuing north to Mazeray. The D230 road also goes east from the village to Juico. The D231 also passes through the south of the commune forming part of the southern border and continues to Écoyeux to the south-east. The commune has extensive forests in the east covering some 40% of the land area with the rest of the commune farmland.

The Ruisseau de la Blanchardiere rises in the east of the commune and flows west joining with numerous other streams.^[3]

Toponymy

Toponymists do not mention an old form for this place name so that the etymology of Annepont remains hypothetical. Albert Dauzat saw a compound of the elements Anna, a Germanic personal name, followed by the Gallo-Roman Ponte (from the Latin pons) meaning "bridge".^[4]

Ernest Nègre agreed on the nature of the second element -pont but interpreted the first in a radically different way: it is possibly the local term asne meaning "humpbacked" - i.e. "humpbacked bridge".^[5]

N.B.: There is a Germanic personal name Anna which is unrelated to the Hebrew personal name Hanna(h) (giving Anna then Anne). This anthroponym is an hypocoristic Germanic anthroponym beginning with the element Arn-. The final a rather indicates a Saxon origin. This hypothesis is supported by the existence of a number of place names in the region (notably in -ville) so the first element could be a Saxon anthroponym. In addition, archaeological excavations confirm the presence of Saxons in the region. This far south a compound structure is expected rather than the Romanesque *Pontanne but Annepont is more reminiscent of a toponymic type of northern France marked by Germanic influence and made from a Germanic anthroponym as for Radepont, Senarpont, Hubertpont, Carlepont, etc. The solution advocated by Ernest Nègre, if possible phonetically, is even more hypothetical inasmuch as an ancient form of the type *Asnepont is required.^{[original research?]}

Administration

List of Successive Mayors^[6]

From	To	Name	Party
2001	2026	Francis Boizumault	DVD

Population

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Annepontois or Annepontoises in French.^[7]^[8]

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	184	—
1975	177	−0.55%
1982	220	+3.16%
1990	208	−0.70%
1999	267	+2.81%
2007	292	+1.13%
2012	357	+4.10%
2017	377	+1.10%
Source: INSEE^[9]

Distribution of age groups

The population of the commune is younger than the departmental average.

Percentage distribution of age groups in Annepont and Charente-Maritime Department in 2017

	Annepont		Charente-Maritime
Age Range	Men	Women	Men	Women
0 to 14 Years	20.6	20.5	16.3	14.3
15 to 29 Years	9.0	7.7	15.4	13.1
30 to 44 Years	22.1	20.5	16.7	16.1
45 to 59 Years	23.1	19.5	20.2	19.9
60 to 74 Years	19.1	26.2	21.1	22.0
75 to 89 Years	6.0	3.6	9.4	12.3
90 Years+	0.0	2.1	1.0	2.4

Source: INSEE^[9]^[10]

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The Logis of Maine-Moreau (17th century)

, located in the Annepont countryside, is registered as an historical monument.^[11]

Religious heritage

The Church of Saint-André (12th century)

is registered as an historical monument.^[12] The Romanesque church is located on a promontory and distinguished by a gate without a tympanum surrounded by Corinthian capitals and its ornamented chevet beautifully executed. Old houses surrounding the building give a special character to the whole.