Un hameau au bord de la Seine normande : Bouafles, Les Mousseaux (Eure), xie-xiie siècle

Abstract

Established in the Norman Vexin on the bank of a meander of the Seine a few kilometres upstream of Château Gaillard (Andelys, Eure), the hamlet of Mousseaux is a satellite habitat of the parish of Bouafles (Eure), occupied during the 11th and 12th centuries. About fifteen buildings have been identified within a single street village, established on both sides of a lane running parallel to the river, a type of pioneer settlement known in this part of Normandy under the name of « boël ». Most of the buildings are rectangular or trapezoidal, with earth-fast timber roof framing, while some, with oblong or elliptical plans, include post-holes and sleeper trenches. The origin of this hamlet may be related to past large scale land reclamation of the moors, at the time of the foundation of the abbey of Préaux, in the middle of 11th century.