[Note 1] The commune of Aigrefeuille d'Aunis is traversed south of the urban area by the Highway D939 which connects La Rochelle to Périgueux, via Surgères and Angoulême.

In his communal notice that he issued for Aigrefeuille, M. A. Gautier informed his contemporaries that the commune had ten villages and eight hamlets, besides the town, a situation that stood in 1839.

Just west of the commune and adjacent to Croix-Chapeau, is the former NATO military hospital complex of which was closed in 1967[7] and since has been transformed into a business area: the Grands Champs zone, which extends over 56 hectares.

These are sedimentary deposits of fluvio-marine origin from the Flandrian transgression which were covered by further formations, specifically peat, due to congestion and stagnation of watercourses.

[10] All of the commune is located in a flat area, with wide horizons, yielding a landscape based on the open field system characteristic of farming in Europe.

The city of Aigrefeuille d'Aunis occupies a depression[10] which in medieval times was a floodplain, formed of marshes and peat conducive to forests composed mainly of trees that prefer a damp environment (alder and ash in particular).

[11] The records of the meteorological station of La Rochelle between 1946 and 2000 allow the determination of some key dates for the climate perspective in Charente-Maritime: 1953 was the driest year and 2000 was the wettest.

In another indication, the name of the city originates from acid grass that are found in abundance on the peat land of the commune: "The ebb of the ocean allowed these plants to spread on the water.

The decomposition of organic materials then formed a thick layer of peat on which grew a sour acid grass, and thorny leafed trees, hence the name of Aigrefeuille".

[25] Nevertheless, Aigrefeuille became a viticultural parish which drew its fortunes and prosperity from its proximity to La Rochelle which was then a new commercial port from where the white wines of Aunis were exported to Flanders, England, and the Nordic countries.

The religious wars starting from the 1560s, the disastrous consequences of the Siege of La Rochelle in 1627-1628, then the exile of the Protestants, following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, had a lasting impact on Aigrefeuille and the region.

Because of religious persecution and the policy of ostracism initiated by King Louis XIV, many villages in Aunis, such as Aigrefeuille, were affected by the exodus of Protestants.

These speculative activities develop around the vine which, at the pace of growth of the trade in spirits, born during the 16th century, settled on all suitable land to accommodate it, sometimes to the detriment of other food-producing areas".

From its medieval origins to the Second Empire, village life was organized primarily around the church and the adjoining square, the current Place de la Republique.

The installation of a religious boarding school in 1857, which was one of the first buildings to be built in the second half of the 19th century in Aigrefeuille, paved the way for urban planning work which also continued during the Third Republic.

A new square, surrounded by chestnut trees, was set up to accommodate a showground for livestock, and this business made Aigrefeuille one of the largest markets in Aunis.

[8] Finally, the church underwent a complete restoration in the late 19th century when the tower in particular was rebuilt and topped with a tall spire, a sign of local wealth.

In Aunis, this new agricultural activity grew rapidly thanks to the powerful dairy cooperative movement begun in 1888 in Chaillé[39] in the Commune of Saint-Georges-du-Bois which then spread to Saintonge and Poitou before the 20th century.

COB Surgères / Aigrefeuille is empowered to conduct anti-crime operations (ADO) with stop and search for people and vehicles, occasionally assisted by additional anti-narcotic units (air support helicopter, dog and patrols from the Psig[59] of Rochefort).

This small town has undergone profound changes in the urban landscape since the end of World War II and continues to evolve even though it still retains a certain cachet of a large rural village.

The village centre lost a large number of traces of the past, only a few old houses – like the old confessional boarding school, the former police station, and the Town Hotel – have been saved and the church dominates the city with its high tower.

It is from the 1970s and especially during the decade of the 1980s, that the commune has initiated a voluntary program of urbanization by acquiring many subdivisions of houses grouped under the generic term of fief or suburb.

To the north-east towards the new tourist attraction of the city near Lake Frace and to the village of Virson extends a residential area of more dense housing (Fief des Dames, Hameau du Lac).

Some modern building of private residences has taken place in the residential park to the west and north of the city centre to complete this controlled urbanization.

The commune has three buildings and structures that are registered as historical monuments: The Church of Saint-Étienne, originally built in the middle of the 12th century, has undergone many changes during its history.

[70] Notable features include the Romanesque croisillons, the only evidence of the original building, which retain their vaults with broken supports from the 12th century and several storied capitals.

The Inter-urban bus transport departmental network called Les Mouettes regularly operate between Aigrefeuille d'Aunis and La Rochelle, Rochefort, and Surgères.

Set in a landscaped garden and located 300 metres from the city centre, this public retirement village also has a specialized Alzheimer's unit of 10 hospital beds.

[73] The college catchment area covers the eleven communes in the canton of Aigrefeuille d'Aunis and falls within the district of Rochefort for the academic Inspection Department.

The city of Aigrefeuille d'Aunis is served by the regional daily newspaper Sud Ouest, which has a branch in La Rochelle, and the weekly magazine Charente-Maritime-Hebdo, headquartered in Surgères.