Aubilly

Location

Aubilly lies in the north-west of the Marne département, within the Montagne de Reims Regional Nature Park. It is 17 km from Reims by road and 58 km from Châlons-en-Champagne, the prefecture of the département. The commune covers just 316 hectares and rises from 103 to 183 metres. The highest point is in the south-west at the plot known as La Montagne, and to the north the land slopes down towards the Noron stream. The village itself sits at around 130 metres.

The neighbouring communes are:

• Bouleuse to the north and north-west
• Méry-Prémecy to the north and north-east
• Saint-Euphraise-et-Clairizet to the east
• Bligny to the south
• Sarcy to the west and south-west

Landscape and viticulture

Aubilly is classified neither as grand cru nor as premier cru. The village belongs to the countryside around Reims, but the character of the commune is shaped by farming: a good 85 per cent of the land is agricultural, almost 71 per cent of it arable. Woodland makes up about 14 per cent. The source names no notable champagne houses or grower estates that you could visit here.

“For 1971 to 2000 the mean annual temperature is 10.3 °C and rainfall is around 740 mm a year.

The climate is oceanic. For 1971 to 2000 the mean annual temperature is 10.3 °C and rainfall is around 740 mm a year. The nearest weather station, at Chambrecy, 4 km away, records a mean of 10.7 °C and 734 mm for 1991 to 2020. There, 40.3 °C was reached on 25 July 2019 and minus 22.1 °C on 17 January 1985.

History

The name of the village first appears around the year 850, then as Albiliacus. During the Hundred Years' War the village was razed to the ground in 1359 on the orders of Gaucher de Chastillon, so that the English could not establish themselves there.

In the First World War a field hospital, the HOE de Bouleuse, was set up between Aubilly and Sainte-Euphraise, on the edge of the Bois de Béneuil. In 1917 it became a school of military medicine and war surgery and was regarded as a respected training centre for doctors and surgeons. It takes its name from the nearby railway junction at Bouleuse. Aubilly was awarded the Croix de guerre 1914-1918 on 30 May 1921.

Champillon

What to see

The source mentions the church of Saint-Rémi as the village's listed building. Saint Remigius is the patron saint of the church of Reims, which fits well with the proximity of the coronation city. Otherwise Aubilly is a quiet place: in 2023 the commune had 50 inhabitants, 5.66 per cent fewer than in 2017. For wine lovers, the village makes a peaceful stop on a drive through the Montagne de Reims, though the real champagne destinations are in the larger villages nearby.