Saules
Origin of the name Saules
The village is recorded in 1269 as « Sales ». The most common explanation links the name to the willow (Latin « salix »); another hypothesis sees it as derived from Latin « sala », a large rural building with a broad common room, which gave « salle » (etymology to be cross-checked).
Founding of Saules
Saules has no foundation charter. The site was occupied in Roman times: a villa was discovered in 1989 at the place called en Saletat, and the Vy Marchand, at the foot of Chaumont, probably follows a Roman route. In the Middle Ages the village belonged to the lordship and later the mairie of Valangin. Very small, it had only 5 hearths in 1531. With Fenin and Vilars it formed a community to manage the Chaumont forests (1488 and 1534), dissolved in 1865. Joined with Fenin and Vilars in a single municipalité in 1875, it fully merged with them in 1888 to form the municipality of Fenin-Vilars-Saules, which existed until 2013.
History of Saules
Roman period. A Roman villa stands at the place called en Saletat; the Vy Marchand probably follows a Roman route.
1269. First record of the village, as « Sales ».
before 1453-1558. Saules belongs to the parish of Saint-Blaise, then to that of Engollon.
1488. With Fenin and Vilars, Saules forms a community to manage the Chaumont forests, confirmed in 1534.
1531. The village has 5 hearths (households).
1794. The Neuchâtel-Saint-Imier road improves the link between the villages.
1850. The village has 123 inhabitants.
1863. Joint school with Fenin, Vilars and Engollon.
1865. The Chaumont forest-use community is dissolved.
1870. The village has 146 inhabitants.
1875. Saules, Fenin and Vilars are joined in a single municipalité.
1888. Under the law on communes, the burgher communes merge with the municipalité: the municipality of Fenin-Vilars-Saules is created.
1989. Discovery of a Roman villa at the place called en Saletat.
2012. At the last census before the merger (31 December), the municipality of Fenin-Vilars-Saules has 846 inhabitants.
2013. On 1 January, Fenin-Vilars-Saules and fourteen other municipalities form the municipality of Val-de-Ruz; Saules becomes one of its localities.
Population of Saules
| 1531 | 5 hearths (households) |
| 1850 | 123 |
| 1870 | 146 |
Historic sites in Saules
The village fountains. Saules keeps fountains with limestone and granite basins dated 1786, 1805, 1844 and 1861.
The Chaumont forests. From 1488 to 1865 Saules managed the Chaumont forests jointly with Fenin and Vilars; forestry remained, alongside farming, a resource of the village.
The Vy Marchand. Old road running along the foot of Chaumont, probably following a Roman route.
Remains in Saules
The Roman villa of en Saletat. A Roman villa was discovered in 1989 at the place called en Saletat, showing that the area was occupied long before the village was first recorded in 1269.
Sources
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Saules (NE) » (Maurice Evard, version du 16.11.2016)
- Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse, « Fenin-Vilars-Saules » (Dominique Quadroni, version du 14.02.2017)
- État de Neuchâtel, arrêté du 6 février 2013 portant homologation des résultats du recensement cantonal de la population du 31 décembre 2012
- Commune de Val-de-Ruz, « À voir ou visiter »
- Commune de Val-de-Ruz, « La commune en bref »
- Association Chemins-Chouettes, « Villages vaudruziens : blasons, noms, surnoms »
- Wikipédia (français), « Fenin-Vilars-Saules »
Other villages near Saules
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