Chabrey

Canton of Vaud · District: Broye-Vully · 270 inhabitants (2010, the last year before the municipal merger)

Part of the municipality of Vully-les-Lacs

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

Origin of the name Chabrey

The oldest attested form of the village's name is « Charbrey », mentioned in 1343. The sources consulted do not provide a certain etymological explanation for this name; it is therefore appropriate not to put forward a hypothesis about its origin without confirmation from a dedicated linguistic study.

Founding of Chabrey

Chabrey appears in the sources as dependent on the bishop of Sion. From 1246, the village was incorporated into the Savoyard castellany of Cudrefin. In the 15th century, Chabrey and the neighbouring village of Villars-le-Grand formed a single administrative entity. A relative autonomy then developed in the 16th century, with the establishment of a « Conseil des XII » specific to the village. There is, in the sources consulted, no mention of a precise founding act nor of an identified individual founder: the village appears to have formed progressively as a rural and seigneurial community, in the context of the agricultural and viticultural development of the shores of Lake Neuchâtel.

History of Chabrey

c. 1050-960 BC. Occupation of a pile-dwelling village at the place called Pointe de Montbec, dated by dendrochronology (Final Bronze Age period). Some indications suggest an earlier occupation, going back to the Middle or Final Neolithic, but this information would rest on indications alone and would deserve to be cross-checked by further studies.

1246. The territory of Chabrey is incorporated into the Savoyard castellany of Cudrefin.

1343. First attested written mention of the village, in the form « Charbrey ».

15th century. Chabrey and the neighbouring village of Villars-le-Grand form a single joint administrative entity.

16th century. The village develops a relative autonomy, with the creation of a « Conseil des XII ».

1536-1798. Following the conquest of the Pays de Vaud by Berne, Chabrey belongs to the bailiwick of Avenches.

1680. A school is established in the village.

1798. End of the Ancien Régime of Berne; at that date, the village has 208 inhabitants.

1905. First known archaeological excavation on the Pointe de Montbec site, led by Alexandre Schenk.

1921. A historic and exceptional drop in the level of Lake Neuchâtel makes it possible to directly observe lakeside remains.

2002-2003. New systematic surveys and core samplings carried out on the archaeological site of the Pointe de Montbec.

2006. Reorganisation of the Vaud districts: Chabrey, until then part of the district of Avenches, joins the new district of Broye-Vully.

1 July 2011. Chabrey merges with the municipalities of Bellerive, Constantine, Montmagny, Mur, Vallamand and Villars-le-Grand to form the new municipality of Vully-les-Lacs. The village loses its status as an independent municipality.

2011. The Pointe de Montbec I site is listed, together with 110 other Alpine lakeside sites, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the « Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps ».

Population of Chabrey

183

1764

208

1798

283

1850

222

1900

177

1950

136

1970

198

2000

267

2009

270

2010

Historic sites in Chabrey

The Pointe de Montbec. Rocky promontory overlooking Lake Neuchâtel, both a remarkable natural site and the location of the lakeside archaeological site of the same name. According to only one source consulted, a tower or a castle from the early Middle Ages, called « château de Montbec », is said to have once stood on this cliff; this information would deserve to be cross-checked by other studies before being regarded as definitively established.

The village of Chabrey. Former village core of the Vaud Vully, on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, which remained an agricultural and wine-growing village until its integration into the municipality of Vully-les-Lacs in 2011.

Remains in Chabrey

Chabrey-Pointe de Montbec I (Final Bronze Age lakeside station). Extensive pile-dwelling site (a village on stilts) submerged under 1 to 3 metres of water on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel, occupied according to dendrochronological dating between about 1050 and 960 BC. The field of piles covers about 1.8 hectares, making it the largest known Final Bronze Age station on the shore of Lake Neuchâtel. The village showed a regular architectural organisation, with houses oriented perpendicular to the shore and protected by a system of palisades. Excavations and surveys (1905, 1921, 2002-2003, then regular monitoring since 2011) have mainly yielded ceramic fragments, bronze objects and a wooden axe handle found intact. The site has been listed since 2011 on the UNESCO World Heritage list under the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps, and is classified as a Swiss cultural property of national importance.

Sources

Other villages near Chabrey

Missing information, or do you have a source? Suggest a correction or addition. Every submission is checked before it's published.

Suggest a change