Saint-Front-la-Rivière

Saint-Front-la-Rivière
Commune
The church in Saint-Front-la-Rivière
Location of Saint-Front-la-Rivière
Saint-Front-la-Rivière Saint-Front-la-Rivière
Coordinates: 45°28′23″N 0°43′38″E
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Department	Dordogne
Arrondissement	Nontron
Canton	Périgord Vert Nontronnais
Intercommunality	Périgord Nontronnais
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Maurice Francis Guinot
Area 1	17.89 km2 (6.91 sq mi)
Population  (2021)	497
• Density	28/km2 (72/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	24410 /24300
Elevation	125–233 m (410–764 ft) (avg. 132 m or 433 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Front-la-Rivière is a commune in the Dordogne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France.

This pretty village has a twelfth-century church, a bar, school, hairdressers and a post office. It also has four châteaux, dating from between the Middle Ages and the 19th century. These include the ruins of the Du Barry family château, the Château de la Renaudie, which dates from the time of François I. The Du Barrys were implicated in a plot to overthrow the monarch during the Wars of Religion.

Chazelles, one of St Front's surrounding hamlets, was a mint in Gallo-Roman times, before the village came into being.

La Varenne, another of St Front's hamlets, means 'game reserve'. Wild deer are often seen in the surrounding farmland.

Population

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1793 920 —     1800 905 −1.6% 1806 898 −0.8% 1821 915 +1.9% 1831 997 +9.0% 1836 986 −1.1% 1841 980 −0.6% 1846 980 +0.0% 1851 1,015 +3.6% 1856 972 −4.2% 1861 964 −0.8% 1866 940 −2.5% 1872 930 −1.1% 1876 957 +2.9% 1881 975 +1.9% 1886 980 +0.5% 1891 945 −3.6%

Year Pop. ±% 1896 864 −8.6% 1901 837 −3.1% 1906 837 +0.0% 1911 809 −3.3% 1921 749 −7.4% 1926 775 +3.5% 1931 716 −7.6% 1936 671 −6.3% 1946 650 −3.1% 1954 674 +3.7% 1962 639 −5.2% 1968 570 −10.8% 1975 586 +2.8% 1982 541 −7.7% 1990 559 +3.3% 1999 543 −2.9% 2008 530 −2.4%

Economy

In the 19th century St Front had a good reputation for the quality of its wine. There remain a few private but no commercial vineyards. An important contributor to the village's growth was the steam tram linking Saint Front to Périgueux, the administrative capital of the Dordogne, to Brantôme and the railway at Saint-Pardoux-la-Rivière. Agriculture has always played an important role in the area. More recently, St Front was the manufacturing headquarters of an important picture frame manufacturer. The factory, which was the last big local employer, closed at the start of this century. There are several small businesses and artisans, including a forge and a luxury cattery, La Crème de la Crème, just for cats. One of the biggest contributions to the village economy is tourism, with self-catering gîtes in several of the hamlets welcoming visitors from all over the world.

Saint-Front-la-Rivière today

Saint Front is a typical small French country village, with a mixture of older, renovated and new properties. The majority of the small population were born in the village, and new residents are a mixture of locals and incomers from the Périgord, and also British and Dutch. Village social life is driven by the bar, Le Relais de la Dronne 2ème Génèration, a few associations (charities) and the comité des fêtes. Each year there is a Loto day, Boules competition, a flea market with children's funfair, farmers' markets and a cycle race "Les Boucles de la Dronne". Guests in 2009 include veteran Tour de France champions and the race attracts many cycling pros.

See also

• Communes of the Dordogne department