Arnex-sur-Orbe
Origin of the name Arnex-sur-Orbe
First mentioned in 1049 in the form «Arniacum» («Arniaco» in the 11th century), then «Arnei» in 1228 and «Arnay» in 1265, before the present form «Arnex». The sources consulted do not explain the origin of the name. The addition «sur-Orbe» refers to the neighbouring town of Orbe.
Founding of Arnex-sur-Orbe
The territory of Arnex has long been occupied: Neolithic flints and rock shelters (at La Combettaz and in the Nozon valley), burial mounds around 750 BC, a Roman-era necropolis, settlement and road, then early medieval necropolises (En Tiers Vin, Sur le Motty, seventeen graves in the vineyard). None of the sources consulted names a founder of the village. It enters history in 1049, when Adalbert de Grandson gives his possessions in Arnex to the priory of Romainmôtier; the same year, Pope Leo IX fixes the boundaries of the Land of Romainmôtier, to which Arnex belongs. The priory is represented there by mayors; the d'Arnay family holds the mayoralty until the 16th century. The inhabitants are called Arnésiens and are nicknamed the Tue-Poulain («Tya-polain», Foal-Killers).
History of Arnex-sur-Orbe
Neolithic. Flints and rock shelters at La Combettaz and in the Nozon valley.
around 750 BC. Burial mounds on the municipal territory.
Roman period. Necropolis, settlement and road; remains of tiles and tableware.
Early Middle Ages. Necropolises En Tiers Vin and Sur le Motty; seventeen graves in the vineyard.
1049. First mention, «Arniacum»: Adalbert de Grandson gives his possessions in Arnex to the priory of Romainmôtier, which has them administered by mayors. The same year, Pope Leo IX fixes the boundaries of the Land of Romainmôtier.
1228. The village, called «Arnei», forms a parish (church of Saint-Martin).
1252. Conon d'Arnay hands over his property in Arnex to the prior of Romainmôtier, who returns it to him as a fief.
14th century. Construction of the choir of the church of Saint-Martin (14th or 15th century depending on the source, to be cross-checked).
1530. Casting of the bell still preserved in the bell tower.
1536. Bernese conquest: Arnex belongs to the bailiwick of Romainmôtier until 1798 and sees some fifty bailiffs come and go. With the Reformation, the parish becomes a daughter church of Agiez.
1601-1607. Bailiff Hans Rudolf Horn takes up a residence that will become the castle of Arnex.
1746. The seigneury passes to the Chaillet family, from Neuchâtel.
1788. The Chaillet family sells the seigneury to Maurice Glayre.
1798. Arnex joins the district of Orbe, to which it belongs until 2007.
1870. A station opens on the Cossonay-Vallorbe-Pontarlier railway line.
1898. Discovery of Burgundian graves En Tiers Vin, one of which contained weapons and objects.
1907. The Arnex pond is drained.
1922. New bell tower and first stained-glass windows of the church, by Charles Clément.
1990s. The pond is recreated (1.5 hectares); a sewage treatment plant is built in 1995.
2008. After the district of Orbe is dissolved, Arnex-sur-Orbe becomes part of the Jura-Nord vaudois district.
Population of Arnex-sur-Orbe
| 1529 | 20 hearths (households) |
| 1764 | 284 |
| 1850 | 621 |
| 1900 | 612 |
| 1950 | 540 |
| 1970 | 457 |
| 1990 | 546 |
| 2022 | 691 |
| 2025 | 698 |
Historic sites in Arnex-sur-Orbe
Reformed church, former church of Saint-Martin. Parish attested from 1228. The choir, covered with a pointed-arch vault, dates from the 14th or 15th century (to be cross-checked); the nave is 18th-century (to be cross-checked). The bell tower built over the choir in 1681 was replaced in 1922; it houses a bell from 1530. The stained-glass windows date from 1922 (Charles Clément) and 1951 (Casimir Reymond).
Castle of Arnex. Former residence set up by the Bernese bailiff Hans Rudolf Horn (1601-1607), then occupied in turn by the Imhoff, Kilchberger, Jenner, de Chaillet, Glayre, de Lerber and Morel families.
Manor houses and clock tower. 17th-century manor house north-east of the church, with a stair tower and a panelled canopy on the façade carried by armorial brackets dated 1668; clock tower probably from the 18th century; another manor house from the second half of the 18th century, with a fine joinery entrance door.
Arnex pond. Drained in 1907, the pond was recreated in the 1990s over 1.5 hectares.
Village listed in the ISOS. The whole village is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites of national importance.
Remains in Arnex-sur-Orbe
Early medieval necropolises. Graves discovered En Tiers Vin (Burgundian burials uncovered in 1898, one with weapons and objects), Sur le Motty and in the vineyard, where one necropolis numbered seventeen graves.
Roman remains. Necropolis, settlement, stretch of road, tiles and tableware from the Roman period; a circular Roman mound is also reported (to be cross-checked).
Prehistoric sites. Neolithic rock shelters at La Combettaz and in the Nozon valley, and burial mounds dated around 750 BC.
Legends of Arnex-sur-Orbe
The Foal-Killers. According to tradition, a forest warden is said to have mistaken a foal that had escaped into a wood for a wolf, and the animal was killed during a beat. The story would explain the nickname of the people of Arnex, the Tue-Poulain («Tya-polain»).
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Arnex-sur-Orbe »
- Commune d'Arnex-sur-Orbe, « Histoire de la commune »
- Commune d'Arnex-sur-Orbe, « Monuments »
- Wikipédia, « Arnex-sur-Orbe »
- Wikipedia (de), « Arnex-sur-Orbe »
- Wikipedia (en), « Arnex-sur-Orbe »
- Feuille des avis officiels du canton de Vaud, « Alphabet des communes vaudoises : Arnex-sur-Orbe »
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Other villages near Arnex-sur-Orbe
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