Vault-lez-Herlaimont

Vault-lez-Herlaimont (in Walloon El Tchapele ) is a common French-speaking of Belgium located in Walloon region in the Province of Hainaut.

Type of City

Semi-urban, two villages and an semi-urban center (Pedestrian - Godarville - Vault-lez-Herlaimont).

Geographical location

Entity located between two cities: Charleroi and Louvière
Communication - Highway (E42-E19), RN3, stations of Pedestrian and Godarville

Economy

“the Valerian” (together of SME),
“the Oak with Wood” (complex commercial)

Teaching

4 elementary schools out of 11 sites
1 private school out of 3 sites
1 provincial school out of 1 site

Culture and Sport

arts center
village hall
libraries
theatrical troop
choral society
multiple associations
general sports halls
grounds of foot
swimming pool
mini-stage
infrastructures of district.

Health/safety/social

CPAS, asbl Symbiosis, police force, crib, social services, polyclinic, convalescent homes, ONE, House of Solidarity, Committee Solidarity, Proxemia

Employment

House of Employment
Local Agency for Employment
Development agency room

Housing

Company of social dwellings the Hive, Arranges Real Social Prologer

Environment

1 Eco-Adviser, 1 park with containers

History

Vault-lez-Herlaimont cuts a portion of territory covered in antiquity by the coal forest. This one was a great wooded area lengthening North in the South and attaching through the East of Hainaut, the Drill of Look after in Fagne chimacian. Currently, one finds of them remainders in the wood of Mariemont.

After the conquest of Gaulle by Jules César, eight great transportation routes, called fitted Roman were created. They had as Bavai starting point. One of them moved towards Cologne by the current localities of Waudrez, Morlanwelz, Gembloux, Tongres and Maestricht, crossing the coal forest of the West in the East and consequently Chapelle occasion which keeps the traces of them.

For the franque period, along this Roman roadway, of many colonists opened clearings to devote itself to agriculture and were established. They installed what in terms of archeology one calls of the " Villas" (Roman villas, franques villas), i.e. agricultural establishments, farms with which came to associate relays of station and inns. Such was the core of the first villages which were formed at the time. But at that time remote, it is not yet question of Vault-lez-Herlaimont. Indeed, the first traces of the village are revealed at the time feudal when the mode of the possession of the ground by the large mérovingiennes abbeys (e.g. Lobbes) made place with a multitude of small seigniories occupied by of Laîcs dedicated to soldiering and forming the class of the knights.

The first document concerning with Chapelle is of XIIe century. At that time the Village existed. It belonged to the seigniory of Trazegnies. One can suppose that it had had to be formed about the year 1000. It is as at the XII century as the village of Forchies-Bulaine (belonging to both Forchies; the other called Forchies-the-Walk) piéton was called name of the river which has its source there.

In 1136, the Lord of Trazegnies made abandonment to the Abbey of Floreffe of the ground located between the Roman Roadway and the river the Pedestrian at the locality " Herlaimont". A priory, under the direction of Prémontrés was set up there and the Bishop of Liege attended the inauguration of the Church in 1184. At that time the village was composed of a certain number of households more or less grouped around a vault being used for the worship from where its name the Vault, in patois " Tchapelle" Vault close to Herlaimont or Vault-lez-Herlaimont.

The village occupied a special situation among the large districts which divided the country then.

In the ecclesiastical order, it belonged to the Cambric diocese with Seneffe, Morlanwelz, Carnières, both Forchies, Anderlues while Trazegnies, principal seat of the Seigniory, belonged to the diocese of Liege like Gouy, Bridge-with-That, Obaix, Courcelles and Jumet.

In the political order, it was bordering on the county of Hainautauquel Morlanwelz, Carnières, both Forchies belonged, but its own fasteners were undecided just as the seigniory of Trazegnies, it was a territory disputed between the duchy of the Brabant which included Seneffe, Bridge-with-That, Gouy and the county of Namur. Vault remained free frank ground.

The Priory of Herlaimont, which was served until 1830 by the monks, was given by the Cambric Bishop to the Abbey of Floreffe in 1140.

In 1222, Chapelle receives from its lord, Othon de Trazegnies, a charter of stamping which in fact a distinct commune. This charter since then confers on Chapelle almost unknown privileges. Indeed, it is stipulated there that the arbitrary exactions and drudgeries, which were before with the capacity of the Lord, would be replaced by fixed royalties. Moreover, the title concedes with the Abbot of Floreffe, chief of the Priory of Herlaimont, the right seigneurial to name the maior (chief of justice), the aldermen (charged to judge and pronounce the sentences) and the forester (exerting the judicial police) among the middle-class men of Vault.

With the wire of the centuries the village took a certain extension, but with the French revolution, it counted yet only a one thousand of inhabitants. There were only lanes going of the Priory of Herlaimont at the Village of Vault. The lane of Herlaimont always exists. The streets of Verviers and Holy-Catherine are only the prolongation. If we add the " Court of Clerc" , the " Lane of the croté" , we will at that time have an approximate idea of the inventory of fixtures.

For a long time the commune is rural but it could not however miss following the development of coal industry, the main wealth of its penny-ground being the coal. In 1766, under the reign of Marie-Therese and Charles of Lorraine, of the concessions are granted to certain capitalists and the extraction of the coal takes its rise. Of very required, transportation routes are set up quickly.

A little later a coal company is constituted under the denomination " Mariement-Bascoup-heat-Buisson" and very agricultural Vault becomes fundamentally industrial. Railways, trade route are organized, which makes it possible coal chapellois to be dispatched in all the directions.

From this moment, one attends the development of coal industry with Chapelle, which results in a considerable increase in its population.

At the end of 1800, several sites of coal mining develop but the enormous investments, the exhaustion of the layers, the exorbitant cost of the exploitations and important labor precipitated the end of coal mining a few 60 years later.

The coal mining of Mariemont-Bascoup survives indeed until 1961, beyond the time discounted at the beginning of the century, and that thanks to mechanization with excess.

During the second world war, Chapelle knows a sad episode of its history. Indeed, François Lamarche, then burgomaster of Vault since 1921, are dislocated of his functions by German, which imposes a burgomaster rexist, Alexandre Want, in 1943. That in spite of a savage opposition of the College and the communal Secretary, Mr Gustave Dewilde.

Several groups of resistance act in Chapelle during the war and several Jewish families are lodged besides by chapellois.

September 2nd, 1944, American is in Chapelle and François Lamarche takes again the same day his scarf maïorale that it will keep until 1949.

With regard to the political world, it is into 1921 that the Belgian Working Party (POB) gains its first elections. The maïorat is entrusted to a Socialist, Mr François Lamarche, is quoted higher.

After the second world war, the socialist party largely will dominate the political life chapelloise until today

While passing successively from an agricultural village in an industrial center with its coal mining for finally being today an important crossroads with trade which develop (in particular new Zoning Commercial), Vault-lez-Herlaimont lives well in the air of time.

Sources DARQUENNE (R.), El Tchapèl E its Tchats, illustrated Little story of Vault-lez-Herlaimont , Vault-lez-Herlaimont, 1997 DARQUENNE (R.), Images of Vault-lez-Herlaimont , Hatred-Saint-Pierre, 1994

Tourism and Folklore

Center of relaxation of Claire Fontaine (Godarville)
the Carnival of Laetare: in 25 years the carnival of Vault forged a reputation largely exceeding the borders of the area. Each year, the carnival attracts several tens of thousands of people who like to come to plunge itself in her particular environment, which in fact, according to the communal authorities, the second most popular carnival of Hainaut after Binche. It is one of only to invite foreign companies and its famous fireworks (Prestige of Tchats), drawn by the Masters Bomb disposal experts Van Cleemput (bomb disposal experts of the King), attracts several tens of thousands of people coming from the four corners from Belgium but also from abroad.
Vault Festival: the Vault Festival, organized by the asbl Solidarity, created in the tread of the Rumanian revolution in order to come to assistance of the Rumanian population (and which has " today; diversifié" its activities in all that milked with the mutual aid with the populations in difficulties (example: earthquake in Turkey, in Iran,…)), place has each year in the neighborhoods of on August 15th. At the time of the first two editions, it was named Chapelle Celtic Festival, but it was then famous Chapelle Festival. For the first time in 2006, it will last two days and will drain several thousands of festival, assessing the quality of its organization and its family and convivial nature (as of the morning, the public can benefit from the activities from leisures and relaxations of the Field from Claire Fontaine and the various animations organized on this occasion (gone artisanal, brass bands, theater of street,…)).

History of the Festival:

2003: Perry Pink, Urban Trad, Cré Thunder, Tri Yann (6000 people)
2004: Carlos Nuñez, Alka Celts Airs, Merzhin, daN Ar Braz (semi-officially 3000 people)
2005: Bernard Lavilliers, Jimmy Cliff, Sinsemilia, Urban Trad, Renzo Gotto, Gang off Coils (many people not communicated, but exceeded record)
2006:

* Day 1: Gauff' (ex-Gauff' in Suc'), Kraj, Nickel silver, Gang off Coils, R. Calvin

* Jour 2: Michel Fugain, the Large Sophie, Be 67, Aldo Granato, Cré Thunder and their guests

Vault, city of the Tchats

Known as “city of Tchats”, Vault-lez-Herlaimont is asserted of a strong identity reference inherited its frank ground past in turn asserted and divided between the duchy of the Brabant and the county of Hainaut. This statute “among two” was maintained until our days since the entity is at the same time in the zone of influence of the Pays of Charleroi and the area of the Center. This situation is reflected besides very concretely in the daily life: share network tce, telephone zone, territory of the inter-commune ones.

This typical location thus has at the same time advantages and disadvantages, but it does not seem in any case not to have deteriorated the local identity, quite to the contrary, since of no claim that it supported the blossoming of a certain critical and independent spirit. At all events, in the beginning, the term Tcha is the abbreviation of Tchaploû , inhabitant of èl Tchapèl , translation of Vault in local Wallon. The nickname of Tcha was transformed into Tchat (“cat” as a local Walloon) by the will of the current deputy-burgomaster, Patrick Moriau, to associate this small cat-like famous for its independence with the image and the symbolic system of the locality. Very concretely, this new identity form is very translated in the designation of the space since the site of the old spoil heap n° 7 in the process of reassignment was renamed “zoning of the Valerian”, of the name of this grass appraisal of the cats.

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