Briouze () is a commune in the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

in northwestern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is considered the capital of the ''pays d'Houlme'' at the western end of the Orne in the Norman

bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of northern France, southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands, northern Spain and northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ' ...

. William de Braose, First Lord of Bramber (Guillaume de Briouze) was granted lands in England after the Norman conquest and used his wealth to build a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in his home town. The name Briouze probably comes from an older Norman form of the word "boue", or "mud".

Geography

The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Bougonnière,La Grivagère, Saint-Gervais and Briouze. The commune is spread over an area of with a maximum altitude of and minimum of The commune has 9 watercourses running through it, the rivers

Rouvre The Rouvre is a river in Normandy, in the Orne département, a tributary of the river Orne. It is long. The river's source is in the commune of Beauvain, a few kilometres to the east of La Ferté-Macé. After crossing the Pays d'Houlme, it tu ...

and the Val du Breuil, plus 7 streams. The seven streams are known as the Maufy, the Roussieres, la Haie, the Arthan, la Prevostiere, the Lange and la Source Philippe. Briouze also has the largest marsh in the Orne department, shared with

Bellou-en-Houlme Bellou-en-Houlme is a commune in the Orne department in northwestern France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Forêterie,Laubesnière, Le Val du Breuil, La Longrais,Le Clos,Le Pont and B ...

at 167.41 Ha, called the Grand-Hazé.

Land distribution

The 2018

CORINE Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) is a European programme initiated in 1985 by the European Commission, aimed at gathering information relating to the environment on certain priority topics for the European Union (air, water ...

Land Cover assessment shows the vast majority of the land in the commune, 55% () is

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

. The rest of the land is

Arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

at 29%, Urbanised areas at 7%, Heterogeneous agricultural land at 5% and wetlands at 3% ().

Climate

Briouze has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

with mild winters and temperate summers.

Population

Heraldry

Transport

Briouze station has rail connections to

Argentan Argentan () is a commune and the seat of two cantons and of an arrondissement in the Orne department in northwestern France. As of 2019, Argentan is the third largest municipality by population in the Orne department.

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and Granville.

Points of Interest

Grand-Hazé is a 500 acres of Marshland that has been under the protection of the

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

since 2002, that is shared with

. The Marshland features

Camargue horse The Camargue, or , is a traditional French List of horse breeds, breed of working horse indigenous to the Camargue area in southern France. Its origins are unknown. For centuries, possibly thousands of years, these small horses have lived wil ...

s and Highland cattle.

National heritage sites

*Saint-Gervais Chapel is an eleventh century chapel built between 1080 and 1093 by Guillaume de Briouze. It was listed as a

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

in 1975. File:Extérieure de la Chapelle Saint-Gervais Saint-Protais, Briouze.jpg, Chapel of Saint-Gervais File:FranceNormandieBriouzeEglise.jpg, Briouze Church File:Chapelle de la communauté des Soeurs de Notre-Dame de Briouze.jpg, Chapel of the community of the Sisters of Notre-Dame de Briouze File:Gare de briouze.JPG, Briouze station

Culture

Since 1996, each year the commune hosts a music festival, Festival Art Sonic at the end of July. The festival attracts about 20,000 people featuring

Contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

Notable People

William de Braose, 1st Lord of Bramber William de Braose (or William de Briouze), First Lord of Bramber (died 1093/1096) was previously lord of Briouze, Normandy. He was granted lands in England by William the Conqueror soon after he and his followers had invaded and controlled Saxon E ...

(died 1093-1096) lord of Briouze. *

Foulques du Merle Foulques or Foucaud du Merle (died 1314) was a Marshal of France. He was French nobility, Seigneur of Gacé and Bellou-en-Houlme, and Baron of Le Merlerault, Briouze and Messei. Du Merle was the son of Guillaume VI du Merle and Marie de Nollent. ...

- (1239 - 1314) was

Seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

Gacé Gacé () is a Communes of France, commune in the Orne Departments of France, department in Lower-Normandy, north-western France. The commune is part of the area known as Pays d'Auge. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection ...

and

, and Baron of

Le Merlerault Le Merlerault () is a former commune in the Orne department in north-western France. On 1 January 2025, it was merged into the new commune of Merlerault-le-Pin. Geography The former Commune is within the Natura 2000 protected area of Bocages ...

, Briouze and

Messei Messei () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. Geography The commune is made up of the following collection of villages and hamlets, La Pacotière, La Bondière, Les Buissons, Les Pasquières, Les Genétés, La Balonni ...

. *

Alexandre Bisson Alexandre Bisson (9 April 1848 – 27 January 1912) was a French playwright, vaudeville creator, and novelist. Born in Briouze, Orne in Lower Normandy, he was successful in his native France as well as in the United States. Remembered as a sig ...

- (1848 - 1912) French

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

creator, and novelist was born here.

Twin towns – sister cities

Briouze is twinned with: *

Beverungen Beverungen () is a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location Beverungen lies in the Weser Uplands on the side of the Weser opposite Solling roughly south of Höxter. In parts of the eastern municipal ar ...

, Germany

References

{{authority control Communes of Orne Natura 2000 in France Monuments historiques of Orne Marshes of France Music festivals in France