Gournay-en-Bray

Gournay-en-Bray (French pronunciation: [guʁnɛ ɑ̃ bʁɛ], before 1962: Gournay)^[3] is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.

Gournay-en-Bray
Commune
Tourism office
Coat of arms
Location of Gournay-en-Bray
Gournay-en-Bray Show map of France Gournay-en-Bray Show map of Normandy
Coordinates: 49°28′53″N 1°43′29″E
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Seine-Maritime
Arrondissement	Dieppe
Canton	Gournay-en-Bray
Intercommunality	CC 4 rivières
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Éric Picard[1]
Area 1	10.4 km2 (4.0 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	5,834
• Density	560/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	76312 /76220
Elevation	84–133 m (276–436 ft) (avg. 94 m or 308 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography

A town of farming and light industry, it is situated in the Pays de Bray, some 50 km (31 mi) east of Rouen, at the junction of the N 31, the D 915 and the D 930 roads.
The commune's territory includes three former parish hamlets, near the confluence of the Epte with three other smaller rivers – the Morette, Auchy and Aulnaie.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	5,791	—
1975	6,430	+1.51%
1982	6,344	−0.19%
1990	6,147	−0.39%
1999	6,275	+0.23%
2007	6,174	−0.20%
2012	6,409	+0.75%
2017	6,072	−1.07%
Source: INSEE[4]

Heraldry

Arms of Gournay-en-Bray

The arms of Gournay-en-Bray are blazoned: Sable, an armed knight contourny maintaining in his right hand a lance argent, and in chief a fleur-de-lys Or. The traditional armoury of the Counts of Gournay seems to have been Sable simple (a pure black shield with nothing on it), hence the sable field here.

Places of interest

An 1820 engraving of some of the capitals in the church of St Hildevert

• The Collegiate Church of Saint-Hildevert, built in the 12th century, is famous for its Romanesque capitals, ornate decoration and its ancient religious sculptures.
• Vestiges of a 17th-century priory, now a farm
• Ruins of a 12th-century Capuchin monastery
• The chapel at the hamlet of Saint-Clair, built in 1829
• A memorial fountain of the 18th century
• The town gates and fortifications, dating from the 13th century
• Traces of 10th-century fortifications
• The 16th-century church of Saint-Jean-Batiste

International relations

• Hailsham, England

Gournay-en-Bray is twinned with Hailsham in the English County of East Sussex. Hailsham has a much larger population (circa 20,500 compared to Gournay-en-Bray's circa 6,500) but, according to Hailsham Town Council, "the features and facilities of both towns are quite similar".^[5] A twinning charter^[6] was signed in Hailsham in October 2000 and in Gournay-en-Bray in February 2001, and renewed in both towns on its 10th anniversary.^[7]

Notable people

• Henri-Michel Guedier de Saint-Aubin (1695-1742), theologian and Sorbonne professor

See also

• Communes of the Seine-Maritime department