Ercheu (;

Picard Picard may refer to: Places * Picard, Quebec, Canada * Picard, California, United States * Picard (crater), a lunar impact crater in Mare Crisium People and fictional characters * Picard (name), a list of people and fictional characters with th ...

: ''Èrchu'' ) is a commune in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

department in

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

in northern

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 ...

Etymology of the place name

Diverting from the Latin word " Arx-Arcis ", strengthened place: 988 : Arceium 1048 : Archeium 1150 : Erceium 1170 : Erchive 1237 : Herciaus 1248 : Erchieu 1633 : Erchu 1705 : Archeu 1764 : Ercheu The name of the municipality is unchanged since 1764.

Geography

Ercheu lies on the D15 and D168 junction, and is around south of

Nesle Nesle () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Nesle is situated at the junction of the D930 and D337 roads, some southwest of Saint-Quentin. The Ingon, a small stream, passes through the commu ...

and east of Roye, stretching from the

Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise in Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal in Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

to the Petit Ingon, which originates in the neighbouring municipality of Libermont, in the Département of

Oise Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.< ...

. Although peak tunnel "Souterrain de Panneterie" of the Canal du Nord lies outside the neighbouring municipality, it is named after Ferme La Panneterie located in Ercheu. The castle-like Ferme Lannoy was a monastery named Notre Dame ('Our Lady') in the 14th century.

History

There was once an

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

cemetery in Ercheu. Since 1120 there was also a

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East ...

. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the village was destroyed. The community received the

Croix de guerre 1914-1918 Croix (French for "cross") may refer to: Belgium * Croix-lez-Rouveroy, a village in municipality of Estinnes in the province of Hainaut France * Croix, Nord, in the Nord department * Croix, Territoire de Belfort, in the Territoire de Belfort depa ...

as an award. The former villages Bessancourt, Ramecourt, and Wailly-lès-Ercheu were abandoned.

Population

Administration

The current mayor is François Lamaire, in office since 2014 and re-elected in 2020. Ercheu is part of the communauté de communes du Grand Roye since January 1, 2012.

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