Essert-sous-Champvent

Origin of the name Essert-sous-Champvent

The name Essert-sous-Champvent is first attested in 1095, in the Latin form Exertas. The term essert (or esserte) is thought to derive from the Latin exartum (or exsartum), which designates land cleared of trees and brought under cultivation: a common way of naming numerous French-speaking Swiss hamlets born of medieval land clearance. The addition «sous-Champvent» was added later to distinguish the place from the neighbouring village of Champvent, on which it depended first seigneurially and then as a parish. The inhabitants of the village were called the Essertois; a dialect nickname, «Lè Pequa-Vè» (the worm-pickers), is also said to have been associated with them, though the precise origin of this nickname is not documented in the sources consulted, a point that would deserve to be cross-checked with another source.

Founding of Essert-sous-Champvent

No source consulted attributes the creation of Essert-sous-Champvent to a single founder, a religious order or a dated founding act: as its name indicates, the place is thought to have arisen from the clearing (essartage) of wooded land, probably as part of the agricultural development of the surrounding territory during the Middle Ages. On the seigneurial level, the hamlet originally belonged to the powerful seigneury of Grandson. When the latter was divided among the sons of Ebal III of Grandson in the 13th century, Essert-sous-Champvent was attached to the new seigneury of Champvent, along with Villars-sous-Champvent, Mathod, Suscévaz and several other villages in the region. This attachment, placed around 1225 to 1234 according to the sources, marks the beginning of its shared destiny with the neighbouring village of Champvent, which would conclude eight centuries later with the 2012 municipal merger.

History of Essert-sous-Champvent

1095. First written mention of the place, in the Latin form Exertas.

around 1225-1234. Attachment of Essert-sous-Champvent to the seigneury of Champvent, newly created when the seigneury of Grandson was divided among the sons of Ebal III; the hamlet remains associated with it until the 2012 municipal merger.

1336. Extinction of the de Champvent family; the seigneury, and Essert-sous-Champvent with it, passes by succession to the de Neuchâtel and then de Vergy families.

1475. The château of Champvent is burned down during the Burgundian Wars, an episode affecting the whole seigneury on which Essert-sous-Champvent depends.

1476. Essert-sous-Champvent is said to have then housed sergeants (judicial officers) in the service of the Grandson region; this point, resting on only one source, would deserve to be cross-checked with another source.

1798. Abolition of seigneurial rights with the end of the Ancien Régime; the village, which then had 59 inhabitants, is attached to the district of Yverdon.

1834. The parish of Essert-sous-Champvent, until then attached to Montagny, passes to that of Champvent.

1908. A quarry is said to have been worked on the territory of the village; this point, resting on only one source, would deserve to be cross-checked with another source.

1921. Closure of the village school.

1922. Construction of the bell tower of the former school building.

around 1950. Development of a market-gardening activity aimed in particular at the market of Yverdon-les-Bains, which would become a lasting economic activity of the village.

1974. Restoration of the school bell tower for an amount of 70'000 francs; the same year, reorganization of passenger rail service at Essert-sous-Champvent station.

2006. On 31 August, the village leaves the district of Yverdon to join the new district of Jura-Nord vaudois.

2010. The last census before the municipal merger counted 151 inhabitants.

1 January 2012. Essert-sous-Champvent merges with Champvent and Villars-sous-Champvent to form the new municipality of Champvent; the village loses its independent municipal status and becomes a locality of this municipality.

Population of Essert-sous-Champvent

Population of Essert-sous-Champvent

1798	59
1850	109
1870	124
1900	114
1950	78
1980	60
2000	132
2010	151

Historic sites in Essert-sous-Champvent

Essert-sous-Champvent railway halt. Served by the Yverdon-les-Bains to Sainte-Croix line, it was long a landmark of the village; passenger service there was reorganized in 1974.

The former school building and its bell tower. The village school closed in 1921, but its bell tower, built in 1922, was restored in 1974 for an amount of 70'000 francs and remains a visual landmark of the hamlet.

La Salle d'Essert. Multipurpose communal hall located in the centre of the village (Rue du Centre), today managed by the municipality of Champvent and made available to residents for their events.

The market-garden land. Since the mid-20th century, the village has been associated with a market-gardening activity aimed in particular at supplying the market of Yverdon-les-Bains, an activity that has continued and developed locally.

Sources

• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse : Essert-sous-Champvent (FR)
• Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz : Essert-sous-Champvent (DE)
• Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse : Champvent (seigneurie)
• Wikipédia : Essert-sous-Champvent (FR)
• Wikipedia: Essert-sous-Champvent (EN)
• Commune de Champvent : Présentation
• Commune de Champvent : Salle d'Essert
• Panorama Vaud : fiche de l'ancienne commune d'Essert-sous-Champvent

Other villages near Essert-sous-Champvent

• Villars-sous-Champvent (VD)
• Valeyres-sous-Montagny (VD)
• Chamblon (VD)
• Orges (VD)
• Champvent (VD)