Lamballe is a former new town located in the Côtes-d'Armor department in the Brittany region. On January 1, 2016, the new municipality of Lamballe was created by merging those of Meslin and Lamballe (delegated municipality) which acquired the administrative status of delegated municipalities on that date. On January 1, 2019, the new municipality was extended to Planguenoual and Morieux, which became delegated municipalities, and took the name of Lamballe-Armor.
Places and monuments
Historical monuments
The town has
nineteen places and monuments classified or listed as historical
monuments listed in the general inventory of cultural heritage34.
The Menhir of Guihalon, former town of Trégomar, Historic
Monument Logo Classified MH (1965, classification by decree of
December 28, 1965).
The covered alley of Chêne-Hut, former
commune of Saint-Aaron, Logo historical monument Classified MH
(1963, classification by decree of January 17, 1963).
The Haras
national de Lamballe, (2015, the facades and roofs of all the
buildings built before the First World War, the stable n° 10 in its
entirety, the park for its level ground, its walls, fences and
gates).
The Notre-Dame collegiate church, Historic Monument Logo
Classified MH (1848, 1862, classification by notice of
classification of August 2, 1848 and list of 1862).
The
Saint-Martin church, (1907, classification by decree of September
16, 1907).
It contains three rooms by the sculptor Yves Corlay
(1700-1778), a renowned sculptor architect: the pulpit, statues of
Saint Peter and Saint Martin (around 1760).
The foliage and
arabesque decorations are by the Briochin painter, Raphaël Donguy.
The Saint-Jean church, (1925, Bell tower: registration by decree of
December 7, 1925).
The Château de la Moglais, locality of La
Poterie, Logo historic monument Listed MH (2011, Listed MH
partially).
The so-called Executioner's house, which has become
the Mathurin-Méheut Museum, Historic monument logo Classified MH
(1909, 1964, Facade on the square, classification by decree of
November 22, 1909 - Facade on the street, all of the roofs,
classification by decree of June 1 1964).
The mill of
Saint-Lazare, Logo historic monument Registered MH (1997,
registration by decree of September 7, 1977).
The region has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, as the presence of the Trégomar menhir suggests.
In 1084, Geoffroy Botherel I founded the Saint-Martin priory by
donating land to the abbey of Marmoutier, the text of the donation
mentions the name of Lamballe for the first time. The village of the
monks, attached to the priory, would then have developed between Le
Gouessant and the fortified buildings of Count Geoffroy Botherel.
Conan, son of the count of Lamballe, took part in the first crusade
(1096-1099).
A fire caused by lightning destroyed much of the
city in 1436.
Lamballe was the capital of the Duchy of
Penthièvre, and is cited for having participated in the revolt of the
Red Bonnets or stamped paper revolt which occurred in 1675.
While the States General were convened, the deputies of Lamballe
approved the formulation of the list of grievances drawn up jointly by
the States of Brittany, on December 13, 1788. When these States met and
took the initiative for a change of regime, the city welcomes the news
from Paris with enthusiasm: meeting of the clergy and the Third Estate
in the National Constituent Assembly, storming of the Bastille. The
municipality, also favorable to the changes that are coming, makes the
population gathered on the Champ de Mars and the garrison (a battalion
of the Poitou regiment) take an oath of loyalty to the king and the
Nation, on July 24, 1789 The National Guard had 292 men on August 2,
1789. Together with the garrison, it took the oath of loyalty to the
King and the Nation, according to the formula drawn up by the Assembly
on August 23. Finally, the municipality was solemnly dissolved in
January 1790, with the election of the first municipality of the new
regime.
The city particularly benefited from the Revolution,
since it was designated to be the capital of the district of Lamballe in
1790, a function which it lost in 1800.
Haras de Lamballe has occupied a 6-hectare park in the heart of the
city since 1825.
Lamballe station was put into service by the
Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest on September 7, 1863, when the
Rennes to Guingamp section of the Paris to Brest line was inaugurated.
The Lamballe war memorial bears the names of 11 soldiers who died
for France during the War of 1870.
WWI
The Lamballe war memorial bears the names of 191 soldiers who
died for France during the First World War. The military section of the
Lamballe cemetery contains 19 graves of soldiers not originally from
Lamballe, but who died in this town, probably because they were
hospitalized there.
Pierre-Marie Régnier, born in 1876 in
Lamballe, soldier in the 80th territorial infantry regiment, was shot
for example on August 22, 1915 in Westvleteren (Belgium) for
“premeditated homicide”.
The Lamballe war memorial bears the names of 29 people who died for
France during the Second World War. In addition, Pierre Alie, a corporal
who was part of the French occupation troops in Germany, was killed on
October 2, 1945 when a train derailed in Legelshurt (Germany).
Yves Charpentier, born on August 6, 1922 in Lamballe, resistant member
of the Gilles battalion in the maquis du Nid Rouge in Gouray, which was
part of the National Front, an FFI group, was shot by the Germans on
July 10, 1944 in the wood of Malaunay in Ploumagoar. Four railway
workers from Lamballe (Marcel Biard, Aristide Helbert, René Paunot,
Henri Soulabaille) were killed for acts of war or died in deportation.
In 1947, several arrests of participants in the Plan Bleu plot took
place in Lamballe.
Six soldiers from Lamballe died during the
Indochina War and one, Michel Quioc, during the Algerian War.
The
town joined forces with Saint-Aaron, La Poterie, Maroué and Trégomar in
1972. In 2016, the town of Meslin became a delegated town of Lamballe.
Due to its geographical location and its natural relief in a basin, Lamballe enjoys a microclimate with low rainfall, fairly well distributed over the year and with a summer minimum. The annual average temperature is 11.8°C. Summers are relatively hot. Average high temperatures in July and August are 23°C to 24°C. Annual rainfall averages around 660 mm, which is significantly lower than the national average. Sunshine is average, around 1,700 hours per year. The driest year was observed in 1989 with 441.5 mm.
The southern sector, crossed by the RN 12 and where the SNCF station
is located, benefits from an important urban dynamic with municipal
facilities: municipal hall, workshops, Saint-Lazare districts and a
training center (school of Beaulieu, school Saint -Joseph, Lycée
Saint-Joseph), as well as the E. Leclerc shopping center and an
industrial zone in preparation.
A vast north/north-east sector,
open to the Grand Lamballe. Thus, the presence of the important
Henri-Avril high school [archive] (general and professional sections),
the stadium and the body of water contribute to the attractiveness of
this area, very clearly oriented towards culture and relaxation. The
Quai des Rêves and the municipal swimming pool make this north-west
sector a new center of Lamballe. The bus station serves as an opening
onto Grand Lamballe, where the SNCF station serves as an opening onto
Brittany in general.
Finally, a central sector, where activity
remains regular. The presence of the Gustave-Téry college, the dynamics
of new stores, local events, the library, the national stud farm make
the center of Lamballe an active center with many elements echoing the
peripheral sectors (Library ↔ Quai des Rêves), to the towns of Grand
Lamballe (Haras ↔ Poterie Equestrian Center). The Place du Marché
therefore corresponds to the center of the town, almost making the
Maison du Bourreau (Mathurin-Méheust museum) the heart of Lamballe, even
in front of the town hall!