Lessay | |
|---|---|
 Town square | |
 Location of Lessay | |
Lessay Lessay | |
| Coordinates: 49°13′05″N 1°31′46″W / 49.218°N 1.5294°W / 49.218; -1.5294 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Normandy |
| Department | Manche |
| Arrondissement | Coutances |
| Canton | Créances |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–2026) | Stéphanie Maubé1 |
Area 1 | 28.95 km2 (11.18 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)2 | 2,278 |
| • Density | 78.69/km2 (203.8/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 50267 /50430 |
| Elevation | 5–42 m (16–138 ft) (avg. 10 m or 33 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Lessay (French pronunciation: [lɛsɛ]) is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Angoville-sur-Ay was merged into Lessay.3
Geography
Lessay is a small town in the centre of the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy.
History
It was founded as a monastery but a town grew up around it over the years. The 10th-century Lessay Abbey is one of the greatest examples of Romanesque architecture in Normandy. It was largely destroyed by fighting in the town during July–August 1944, but has been rebuilt.
Population
Population data refer to the area corresponding with the commune as of January 2025.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 1,597 | — |
| 1975 | 1,540 | −0.52% |
| 1982 | 1,561 | +0.19% |
| 1990 | 1,921 | +2.63% |
| 1999 | 1,993 | +0.41% |
| 2007 | 2,287 | +1.73% |
| 2012 | 2,259 | −0.25% |
| 2017 | 2,245 | −0.12% |
| 2023 | 2,278 | +0.24% |
| Source: INSEE4 | ||
Heraldry
 |
The arms of Lessay are blazoned : Sable, a woodsman's axe palewise Or, blade to sinister.
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Points of interest
- LORAN-C transmitter Lessay
- La Foire: the Sainte Croix fair of Lessay is a trade fair established in the 11th century in order to develop commercial activity in the village. For three days in the second week of September, 42 acres (170,000 m2) of Lessay is transformed into a marketplace, attracting over 400,000 visitors. The fair offers demonstrations of old and new trades, thousands of stalls selling a range of products from household equipment to animals, food, cars and garden and agricultural tools.5
- Lessay was the location for the studio for English language commercial radio station Contact 94 which was aimed at the Channel Islands before they had commercial radio of their own. The station launched on 5 September 1988 and closed in 1991.
References
References
- "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
- "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.
- Arrêté préfectoral 28 September 2015 (in French)
- Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE
- Lessay et son canton à travers les siècles by Michel Pinel