Somme __NOTOC__
Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places
*Somme (department), a department of France
*Somme, Queensland, Australia
*Canal de la Somme, a canal in France
*Somme (river), a river in France
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Somme'' (book), a ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...
in northern
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
.
Geography
Situated on the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...
, on the D19 road, west of
Abbeville
Abbeville (, vls, Abbekerke, pcd, Advile) is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of ...
, in the southwest of the department, Ault possesses chalk cliffs overlooking a beach of pebbles (and sand at low tide). To the south of the town is a large wooded area, the ‘Bois de Cise’, in a valley that leads on to the coast. To the north, the cliffs descend to the level of the beach at Onival. The area around the town, the 'hâble d’Ault' was mostly tidal marshland that has been reclaimed from the sea. Cattle, sheep and game are raised here.
Railways
Ault had a station on the
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in E ...
Woincourt to Onival line, which closed to passengers in May 1939, but saw much use during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
to move materials for the
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...
. During the war, a
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, ...
line was laid alongside the road from Lanchères, on the CFBS, to Ault. This line was dismantled after the war.
Population
Places of interest
* The 15th / sixteenth century church of Saint-Pierre,
* The war memorial, designed by
Paul Landowski
Paul Maximilien Landowski (1 June 1875 – 31 March 1961) was a French monument sculptor of Polish descent. His best-known work is '' Christ the Redeemer'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Biography
Landowski was born in Paris, France, of a Polish re ...
.
* Two chapels, at Onival and Bois de Cise dating from the nineteenth century.
* Several ancient village houses.
* The
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Lighthouses m ...
, with its lantern over 106 metres above sea-level.
* The cliffs
* The beaches of Ault and Bois de Cise..
* The ‘hâble d'Ault', with signed pathways.
Sea defences
The town has paid a heavy price defending itself against the sea, which is constantly washing away the beach, cliffs and public spaces, such as the car parks and gardens. The problem is ongoing. A "balcony on the sea", a huge concrete construction has been built but the risks remain. Signs of wear of the dyke under the casino have been noted.
Image:Ault_falaises.jpg, The cliffs
Image:BOIS_DE_CISE.JPG, Bois de Cise and cliffs
Image:Ault, Bois de Cise, 2001-JS00498.jpg
Image:Ault, Bois de Cise, 80, Fr, juin 2001-JS00502.jpg
Image:Ault, Bois de Cise, fête juin 2002-JS03594.jpg
Image:Ault, Bois de Cise, fête juin 2002-JS03669.jpg
Image:Ault, Bois de Cise, fête juin 2002-JS03673.jpg
Image:JS09234.jpg
Image:JS09237.jpg
Image:JS09283.jpg
Image:JS09286.jpg
Image:JS09288.jpg
Image:JS09299.jpg
Image:JS09306.jpg
Image:JS09308.jpg
Image:JS09319.jpg
See also
Communes of the Somme department
The following is a list of the 772 communes of the Somme department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Official website