La Russille
Origin of the name La Russille
The hamlet is mentioned in 1666 in the form « Russillie ». The name is said to come from « russel », a dialect word for a small stream.
Founding of La Russille
La Russille is a hamlet in the municipality of Les Clées, in the Jura-Nord vaudois district. It sits on a sloping plateau at the foot of the Suchet, above the Orbe gorges. No source consulted names a founder or dates its origin. The Orbe and Les Clées area passed to the Chalon family in the 12th century, then to the House of Savoy from 1260; under Bern it formed a castellany of the bailiwick of Yverdon (these facts concern the region and the municipality, not the hamlet alone). The inhabitants lived mainly from farming and dairy production.
History of La Russille
12th century. The Orbe and Les Clées area, to which the site belongs, passes to the Chalon family.
1260. The area becomes the property of the House of Savoy.
1666. First mention of the hamlet, in the form « Russillie ».
1814. Founding of the village dairy (cheese) society (to be cross-checked).
before 1817. Construction of the cheese dairy of the Société de La Russille.
first half of the 19th century. Construction of the school with a bell tower topped by a spire; farmhouses of this period dominate the hamlet.
1892. The straight road linking Baulmes and Romainmôtier does not yet exist; a barn in the hamlet bears this date.
around 1900. The hamlet has 90 inhabitants, living mainly from dairy production.
1990. Opening of the Lausanne-Vallorbe motorway, which changes the hamlet's situation.
end of the 20th century. Residential expansion of the hamlet.
Population of La Russille
| around 1900 | 90 |
Historic sites in La Russille
The street hamlet. Strongly rural hamlet of compact farmhouses, many from the first half of the 19th century, with wooden galleries on the upper floor and covered fountains. It is listed in the Federal Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites (ISOS) as a hamlet.
Former school. School from the first half of the 19th century, with a bell tower topped by a spire.
Cheese dairy of the Société de La Russille. Single-storey dairy with a hipped roof, built before 1817, a witness to the hamlet's dairy economy.
Sources
- Inventaire fédéral des sites construits à protéger en Suisse (ISOS), « La Russille »
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Clées, Les »
- histoirevalleedejoux.ch, « Un petit tour par les Clées »
- Statistique Vaud, « Population résidante permanente au 31 décembre 2025 »
Other villages near La Russille
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