Les Bassacs map cushion

Jane Revitt, artist and designer who regularly comes to Les Bassacs, has produced this beautiful cushion of the area.

 

She has used a map from 1903, first published in La Grande Encyclopédie.  It is easy to see where Les Bassacs is in relation to the artful shading which denotes the relief in the landscape and lends it its distinct graphic feel.  Jane's wonderful cushion can be bought from her website here

The towns and villages that are picked out reflect the shift in population that has taken place since 1903, with Croagnes being given a prominence that it wouldn't now have as its population has dwindled to 3 or 4 permanent residents.  This fluctuation in population is the same for many of the hameaux shown on the cushion.

Croagnes serves as a good illustration of this process.  It seems to have been continuously inhabited from roman times when it had a substantial villa, it was noted as a community of some standing in 997, and by 1122 had a cleric and a group of inhabitants regularly attending church services.  In 1293 there were 10 families living there when they were granted the right to a communal bake house to cook their bread. By 1396, following the hundred years war,  the place was ruined and abandoned, not to be repopulated until 17th century when it reached its zenith comprising a community of 70 families. The fact that it had a church in 1903 probably merits its appearance on the map.  Les Bassacs would have undergone a similar evolution.

Croagnes from Les Bassacs

part of the cross in the centre of Croagnes