Lessay

Lessay
Lessay
Commune
	Town hall
	Location of Lessay
	Lessay Location within France Lessay Location within Normandy
	Coordinates: 49°13′05″N 1°31′46″W / 49.218°N 1.5294°W
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Coutances
Canton	Créances
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Stéphanie Maubé
Area 1	28.95 km2 (11.18 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (33 ft)
Highest elevation	42 m (138 ft)
Lowest elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population (2023)	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
	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.

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.

Historical population
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: INSEE

Heraldry

Arms of Lessay	The arms of Lessay are blazoned : Sable, a woodsman's axe palewise Or, blade to sinister.

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.
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

↑ "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

[1] "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.

[2] "Populations de référence 2023" (in French). National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 18 December 2025.

[3] Arrêté préfectoral 28 September 2015 (in French)

[pophist-4] Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023, INSEE

[5] Lessay et son canton à travers les siècles by Michel Pinel