Essertes

Origin of the name Essertes

The name Essertes comes from the Old French «essart», meaning cleared land, itself derived from the Late Latin exsarire (to root out, to clear of trees). The earliest written mentions date back to the 12th and 13th centuries: in Sartis in 1141, terram de Sartis in 1154, Essertes around 1155, de Sertes in 1218, then again Essertes in 1271. This name recalls the clearing of the forests of the Jorat that allowed the village to come into being. The coat of arms adopted in 1921, showing an uprooted and lopped gold tree trunk surmounted by a cuckoo, directly illustrates this etymology.

Founding of Essertes

The village of Essertes was born in the mid-12th century around a grange belonging to the Cistercian abbey of Haut-Crêt, to which the territory had been ceded. The sources do not fully agree on the identity of the donor: it could have been the lords of Palézieux, or, according to another indication, the count of Genève Amédée I in 1162 (information to be cross-checked). The monks of Haut-Crêt then organized the agricultural development of the place and from 1218 granted the inhabitants a right of use over the forests of the Jorat, in exchange for the annual payment of a bushel of wheat per family. The hamlet thus developed gradually around the monastic estate, attached to the parish of Palézieux-Oron-Châtillens (to be cross-checked).

History of Essertes

1141 to 1271. Earliest written mentions of the place in the Latin forms in Sartis, terram de Sartis, then Essertes, in documents linked to the abbey of Haut-Crêt.

around 1162. Cession of the territory of Essertes to the Cistercian abbey of Haut-Crêt; a village forms around the monastic grange (the exact name of the donor varies by source, to be cross-checked).

1218. The monks of Haut-Crêt grant the inhabitants of Essertes a right of use over the forests of the Jorat, in exchange for the annual payment of a bushel of wheat per family.

1557. After the Bernese conquest of the Pays de Vaud, Essertes is incorporated into the Bernese bailiwick of Oron (information to be cross-checked).

1798 to 1803. During the Helvetic Republic, Essertes is part of the Canton of Léman, before the Pays de Vaud returns to its cantonal organization in its current form.

1801 to 1814. Negotiations lead to the separation of Essertes, Châtillens and Les Tavernes, which until then formed a single municipality. Essertes becomes an independent municipality in 1814.

1848. Construction of the Essertes school, fitted with a small bell turret, which becomes one of the village's emblematic buildings (to be cross-checked).

1921. The municipality of Essertes adopts its coat of arms, an uprooted and lopped gold tree trunk surmounted by a cuckoo, recalling the etymology of the village's name.

30 May 1996. The Essertes-Auboranges menhir, left lying down and partly buried for generations, is re-erected at its current location (precise date to be cross-checked).

28 September 2020. The authorities of Essertes and Oron approve the merger agreement between the two municipalities.

29 November 2020. The population of Essertes and Oron approves the merger by popular vote, with nearly 88% in favour.

1 January 2022. Essertes officially merges with the municipality of Oron and becomes a locality of this new municipality, ten years after the initial 2012 merger that had brought together Bussigny-sur-Oron, Châtillens, Chesalles-sur-Oron, Écoteaux, Oron-la-Ville, Oron-le-Châtel, Palézieux, Les Tavernes, Les Thioleyres and Vuibroye.

Population of Essertes

Population of Essertes

1850	197
1900	162
1970	116
2021	396

Historic sites in Essertes

The Essertes-Auboranges menhir. Considered the largest menhir in Switzerland, with a height measured according to sources at between about 5.6 and 5.9 metres (to be cross-checked) for an estimated weight of about 25 tonnes (to be cross-checked). Erected in prehistoric times, then fallen and buried for generations, it was re-erected at its current location in 1996. Known locally as the «Pierre du dos à l'âne», it is said to have served as a boundary marker between the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg, according to some sources from as early as the 16th century and according to others only from the early 19th century (information to be cross-checked).

La Maison de Clos. Building with a wide roof in the Bernese style, cited among the notable elements of Essertes's built heritage (to be cross-checked).

The 1848 school. Village school built in 1848, recognizable by its small bell turret, a witness to public education in the Vaud countryside in the 19th century (to be cross-checked).

Remains in Essertes

The Neolithic menhir. The Essertes-Auboranges menhir attests to human occupation of the territory as far back as the Neolithic. Long left lying down and half-buried, it was re-erected in 1996 at its current location, on the border between the cantons of Vaud and Fribourg.

The grange of the abbey of Haut-Crêt. The village of Essertes developed in the 12th century around a grange belonging to the Cistercian abbey of Haut-Crêt, whose presence lies at the origin of the settlement of the place (to be cross-checked for the precise details of its location and current condition).

Sources

• Wikipédia, article « Essertes » (français)
• Wikipedia, Artikel „Essertes“ (allemand)
• Wikipédia, article « Oron (Vaud) »
• Commune d'Oron, page officielle d'Essertes
• Commune d'Oron, page officielle sur le menhir d'Essertes
• Le Courrier, article sur le programme de fusion des communes d'Oron
• Florence Cattin et al., Dictionnaire toponymique des communes suisses, Centre de dialectologie, Neuchâtel/Frauenfeld/Lausanne, 1990 (source papier)
• Olivier Dessemontet et Louis F. Nicollier, Armorial des communes vaudoises, Éditions Spes, Lausanne (source papier)
• Eugène Mottaz, Dictionnaire historique, géographique et statistique du canton de Vaud, Slatkine, Genève (source papier)

Other villages near Essertes

• Servion (VD)
• Vuibroye (VD)
• Châtillens (VD)
• Les Tavernes (VD)
• Ferlens (VD)