Peney-le-Jorat

Canton of Vaud · District: Gros-de-Vaud · About 380 inhabitants in 2009, the last year in which Peney-le-Jorat existed as an independent municipality

Part of the municipality of Jorat-Menthue

Origin of the name Founding Historical timeline Population over time Must-see historical sites Remains Sources and references Nearby villages

Origin of the name Peney-le-Jorat

The name Peney comes from the Latin «pinus» (wild pine), also designated by the patois term «penet». The first known written mention of the place dates from around 1141-1143, in the form «Pinoy». Ancient documents also name it «grangia Pineti» or «Piney», that is «the grange of Peney and its dependencies», in reference to the agricultural estate worked by monks. The element «le Jorat» was added to the name to locate the village on the wooded Jorat massif and distinguish it from other places of the same name, notably from Peney in the canton of Genève (municipality of Satigny), with which it should not be confused. In regional toponymy, «Jorat» designates a mountain forest or a wooded area, related to the words «joux», «jeur» or «jor» found in other place names of the region.

Founding of Peney-le-Jorat

The village originated from a seigneurial donation to an abbey. Between 1134 and 1143, Albert de Dommartin gave the estate of Peney to the Cistercian abbey of Hautcrêt (affiliated with the order of Cîteaux). In 1154, the abbey received additional land from Garnier de Palézieux. The monks of Hautcrêt established a grange there, that is a monastic farm, around which the village gradually developed, along with an oven and a mill. From 1151, the noble family of Goumoëns granted the abbey usage rights in the forests of the Jorat. The inhabitants had to pay the abbey dues in oats and wheat. Peney-le-Jorat was therefore not founded by an identified individual: it formed as an agricultural estate around a Cistercian monastic grange, in the context of the development of the lands of the Jorat by local lords and the regular clergy in the 12th century.

History of Peney-le-Jorat

100-400 (to be cross-checked). According to one source consulted, the oldest remains found on the village's territory, at the place called le Chalet au Renard, would date from this period, described by that same source as the «Burgundian era». This dating would nonetheless deserve to be cross-checked, as the period usually described as Burgundian in French-speaking Switzerland is later (around the 5th-6th century); it could be an occupation from the Roman period or a confusion of period.

1134-1143. Albert de Dommartin gives the estate of Peney to the Cistercian abbey of Hautcrêt.

1141/1143. First known written mention of the place, in the form «Pinoy».

1151. The Goumoëns family grants the abbey of Hautcrêt usage rights in the forests of the Jorat.

1154. The abbey of Hautcrêt receives additional land given by Garnier de Palézieux.

1432. The village has 6 hearths (households).

1536. The village comes under the rule of Berne, following the conquest of the Pays de Vaud by Berne.

1557-1798. Peney administratively belongs to the Bernese bailiwick of Oron.

1558. The village has 15 hearths.

1768. The inhabitants rebuild the communal house, which at the time housed the school, the regent's (the schoolteacher's) lodging and a chapel.

1789. Peney and Villars-Tiercelin separate from the parish of Dommartin, on condition of building a church in Villars-Tiercelin and a parsonage in Peney-le-Jorat.

1794. Peney becomes the centre of a pastoral suffragan parish.

1795. The church and the parsonage of Peney-le-Jorat are built.

1798. Following the independence of the canton of Vaud, Peney joins the Vaud district of Oron (until 2006).

1803. The village has 244 inhabitants.

1840. The parish of Peney-le-Jorat is officially established.

1850. The village reaches 395 inhabitants, its known demographic peak in the 19th century.

1900. The population falls back to 283 inhabitants.

1950. The population stands at 249 inhabitants.

2000. The village has 312 inhabitants.

2005. The primary sector (agriculture) still provides 36% of the municipality's jobs.

2006. Peney-le-Jorat leaves the district of Oron to join the new district of Gros-de-Vaud.

2009. The municipality has about 377 inhabitants, one of the last years in which Peney-le-Jorat exists as an independent municipality.

2011. On 1 July, Peney-le-Jorat merges with Montaubion-Chardonney, Sottens, Villars-Mendraz and Villars-Tiercelin to form the new municipality of Jorat-Menthue, then numbering around 1358 inhabitants in total.

Population of Peney-le-Jorat

6 hearths

1432

15 hearths

1558

244

1803

395

1850

283

1900

249

1950

312

2000

377

2009

Historic sites in Peney-le-Jorat

Church (temple) of Peney-le-Jorat. Built in 1795 together with the adjoining parsonage, after Peney and Villars-Tiercelin separated in 1789 from the parish of Dommartin. It has been the seat of a pastoral suffragan parish since 1794, then of a fully-fledged parish since 1840. Before it was built, worship was held in a chapel set up in the communal house rebuilt in 1768, which also housed the school and the schoolteacher's lodging.

Former communal house (1768). Rebuilt by the inhabitants in 1768, it brought together under one roof the school, the regent's (the schoolteacher's) lodging and a chapel, before the separate church was built in 1795.

Le Chalet au Renard. A place name located on the territory of the former municipality, today home to a renovated mountain shelter used to host families and groups. It was at this spot that the oldest archaeological remains discovered on the village's territory were unearthed.

Remains in Peney-le-Jorat

Roman remains and early medieval necropolis. Probable remains of villae (rural estates) and Roman material have been recorded on the territory of Peney-le-Jorat, as well as a necropolis dated to the early Middle Ages. As far as is known, these finds have not been the subject of thorough excavations documented in detail in the sources consulted.

Graves and millstone from the Chalet au Renard. Graves as well as a millstone were discovered at the place called le Chalet au Renard. One source dates them to a period described as the «Burgundian era» between 100 and 400 AD, a chronological range that in fact corresponds more to the Roman period than to the Burgundian period proper; this information would therefore deserve to be cross-checked with additional archaeological sources before being considered definitive.

Sources

Other villages near Peney-le-Jorat

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