Caudebec-en-Caux (, literally ''Caudebec in Caux'') is a former commune in the

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Rives-en-Seine.

Geography

Caudebec-en-Caux is located W.N.W. of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...

, on the right bank of the River

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

. The

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

in the estuary of the Seine which is known as the ''mascaret'' in French, but locally as the ''barre'', used to be well seen at this point. The development of the industrial polder towards

Harfleur Harfleur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of northern France. It was the principal seaport in north-western Fr ...

has changed the geometry of the estuary so that mascaret now seems to be a phenomenon of the past. Since 1977 Caudebec has been served by the Pont de Brotonne, one of three bridges built across the Seine, downstream from Rouen since 1960, to replace the many ferries so making vehicular access between the

Pays de Caux The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French '' département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cl ...

and the Autoroute A13 easier.

History

Caudebec is one of numerous places in Normandy having names which are clearly derived from a Scandinavian language. ''Caldebec'' Abt 1025 (like

Caldbeck Caldbeck is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland, it is situated within the Lake District National Park. Part of the parish lies within the Skiddaw Group SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest). T ...

, ''Caldebeck'' 1060, Cumberland.) derives from the old Danish ''kaldr bekkr'': cold stream, cold brook. In May 1592 during the

French Wars of Religion The French Wars of Religion were a series of civil wars between French Catholic Church, Catholics and Protestantism, Protestants (called Huguenots) from 1562 to 1598. Between two and four million people died from violence, famine or disease di ...

Caudebec had been taken by Spanish and French Catholic League forces of

Duke of Parma The Duke of Parma and Piacenza () was the ruler of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza, a List of historic states of Italy, historical state of Northern Italy. It was created by Pope Paul III (Alessandro Farnese) for his son Pier Luigi Farnese, Du ...

but was trapped by an army under

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

. Parma though wounded then made a miraculous escape avoiding complete defeat but died at

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

Heraldry

Sights

The chief architectural interest of the town lies in its

Flamboyant Flamboyant () is a lavishly-decorated style of Gothic architecture that appeared in France and Spain in the 15th century, and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century and the beginning of the Renaissance.Encyclopedia Britannica, "Flamboyant style ...

church, which was constructed during the 15th and the early 16th centuries. Round its top run balustrades formed of Gothic letters, which read as part of the ''

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

''. Its west portal, the decoration of the spire of the tower, and its

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

are among the features which make it one of the finest churches of the Rouen diocese. * In the town are also **''Maison des Templiers'' (The Templars' House) from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The building was saved by a society set up for the purpose and houses a small museum of local archaeology and history. A domestic building of this period is a rarity. **The former prison from the fourteenth century. **''Hôtel du Bailli'', a town house. **''Hôtel de ville'' (Town Hall) from around 1800. **The riverside embankments (Les Quais). **''Musée de la marine de Seine'', on the history of river navigation. *Just outside the town: ** ''Château d'Etelan'' a renaissance château overlooking the final loop of the river Seine **The short length of riverside road between Caudebec and St Wandrille, passes under the ''Pont de Brotonne'', a high-level

cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

. **''Monument du

Latham 47 The Latham 47, or Latham R3B4 in Naval service was a French twin-engine flying boat designed and built by Société Latham, Société Latham & Cie for the French Navy. The aircraft achieved notoriety in 1928 when aircraft number 47.02 disappeare ...

'' ** Fontenelle Abbey (''Abbaye de Saint-Wandrille''), in the nearby village of

Saint-Wandrille-Rançon Saint-Wandrille-Rançon () is a former commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north west France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Rives-en-Seine. Caudebec was formerly the location of the French seaplane manufacturer Latham.

Caudebec-en-Caux in fiction

* Caudebec-en-Caux (though shortened to 'Caudebec') is the site of the death of the character Captain William Bush, in C.S. Forester's novel '' Lord Hornblower'', part of the popular

Horatio Hornblower Horatio Hornblower is a fictional officer in the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, the protagonist of a series of novels and stories by C. S. Forester. He later became the subject of films and radio and television programmes, and ...

series set during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. Bush, Hornblower's loyal companion for much of the series, was killed due to an explosion in a minor military operation in the Seine estuary near to the town of Caudebec.Forester, C.S., (1964), ''The Hornblower Companion'', Michael Joseph, London. * Much of the action in '' They Wouldn't Be Chessmen'' by A. E. W. Mason takes place in Caudebec.

Notable people

Thomas Basin Thomas Basin (1412–1491) was a French bishop of Lisieux and historian. Biography Basin was born at Caudebec in Normandy, but in the devastation caused by the Hundred Years' War, his childhood was itinerant. He was taken from Caudebec in 1415 ...

, historian, was born here in 1412. * Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 10th Earl of Shaftesbury was raised here after his father, the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury died in 1947. The 10th Earl's mother was the French-born Françoise Soulier, daughter of Georges Soulier. * François Duprat (1941–1978), French writer, was killed here. * Hippolyte Sebron (1801-1879), painter and associate of

Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( ; ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a France, French scientist, artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of th ...

, was born here.

References

External links

* Hat making history with the Huguenots in Caudebec-en-Caux during a time of religious intoleranc
Link to blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caudebecencaux Former communes of Seine-Maritime Normandy