Bignan

History

In the 5th century Saint Noyale was said to be martyred in or near the town. In 1252, Guillaume de Bignan founded the nearby abbaye de prières. The earliest mention of Bingnen is in 1421, Buignen in 1428, and Bignen in 1461. Bignen was formerly part of the deanery of Porhoët, of the fief of the lords of Rohan. The town church was constructed between 1787 and 1801 with construction interrupted by the French Revolution. Bignan was a very active center of chouannerie from 1794 by the action of Pierre Guillemot, called "the king of Bignan", lieutenant of Georges Cadoudal. After the revolution Castle Kerguéhennec, sometimes nicknamed the " Versailles breton", served as a warehouse for the Chouans to remove crops to the law of requisition of grain applied by the Republican administration. In 1906, traces of an Iron Age settlements and in particular of the Acheulean period were found near the town. At the start of the 2016 academic year, 49 students were enrolled in the Catholic bilingual stream (22% of children in the commune enrolled in primary school)

Most-observed species

• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  811
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  772
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  741
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  600
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  563
• Eurasian Wren

  Troglodytes troglodytes (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  550
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  533
• Song Thrush

  Turdus philomelos C.L.Brehm, 1831 · Aves
  521

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2017-09-28
  1 km WNW of Tresbœuf, France
• M 4.5 — 2013-11-21
  1 km WSW of Plescop, France
• M 2.5 — 2008-11-17
  3 km SSW of Pléhédel, France
• M 2.6 — 2008-08-28
  3 km E of Mauron, France
• M 2.7 — 2008-08-23
  1 km W of Glomel, France
• M 3.2 — 2008-08-23
  4 km WNW of Glomel, France