In ancient documents, these place names appear only after the 17th century, since in earlier times there were only a few scattered houses on the narrow flat strips of land, and the area was considered merely a “Cantone” called “Ultra Aquam,” meaning beyond the bank of the Evançon stream.
In 1257, together with the villages of Pilaz and Magnéchoulaz, the communities of Ultra Aquam obtained as a fief from the local Lords a vast forest stretching from Corbet to Pilaz on the left orographic side of the Evançon, the so-called “bois noirs.” The enfeoffment was later confirmed in 1402.
This was the first step toward a reorganization of the territory with the establishment of isolated farms, the nucleus of the future villages, traces of which remain today above all in the rascards (some of which still have the construction date carved into the beams) and in the communal ovens.
In Le Trochey, where the chimney of the oven also served as a sundial, several 18th-century rascards stand in succession.
