Arcens is located some 55 km east by south-east of Le Puy-en-Velay and 60 km west of Valence. It can be accessed by the D237 road from Saint-Martin-de-Valamas in the north-east passing through the commune and the village and continuing south-west to Saint-Martial. Apart from the village there are also the hamlets of Massas and Les Allayauds in the south-west. The entire commune is heavily forested. The Eysseriver flows through the commune and the village from south-west to north-east gathering numerous tributaries on the way. It forms part of the northern border of the commune before continuing north to join the Eyrieux at Saint-Martin-de-Valamas.
Neighbouring communes and villages
Toponymy
It appears that the origin of the commune name Arcens was from a hamlet in the 14th century and the area occupied by the current commune was divided between three Lords in 1464.
History
Arcens is a village divided between the plateau and the valley and in the Middle Ages was the borders of three lordships. The first mention that is often recounted, of Mansus de Arcenno in 1024, does not apply to Arcens, but to a manse near Escoulenc. In 1164 Pope Alexander III confirmed the Arcens church to the chapter of Puy but this date is controversial. On 17 April 1195 the next pope, Adrian IV, confirmed the church to the abbey of Saint-Chaffre. In 1620, the Acens church depended on the chapter of Puy whose canons named the priests. The Lordship of Arcens appears only in the 15th century in the Brion family: thence it passed to Crussol and in the 18th century was in the hands of the Aiguillon family, one of the most powerful of the time. The revolutionary period left some traces: the sales of church property, theft from the tax collector, then a strange resignation of the council. The lord of Arcens was meanwhile guillotined.
In 2009 the commune had 416 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known from the population censuses conducted in the commune since 1793. From the 21st century, a census of communes with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants is held every five years, unlike larger towns that have a sample survey every year.
The population of the commune is relatively old. The rate of persons above the age of 60 years is higher than the national rate and the departmental rate. Unlike the national and departmental proportions, the male population of the commune is greater than the female population. Percentage Distribution of Age Groups in Arcens and Ardèche Department in 2009
