commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
Rang-du-Fliers is located on the Côte d'Opale (the Opal Coast), 4 miles (6 km) from the beach and 5 miles (8 km) southeast of
Montreuil-sur-Mer
Montreuil (; also nl, Monsterole), also known as Montreuil-sur-Mer (; pcd, Montreu-su-Mér or , literally ''Montreuil on Sea''), is a sub-prefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It is located on the Canche river, not far fr ...
on the D917 road.
Rang-du-Fliers station
Rang-du-Fliers (also ''Rang-du-Fliers-Verton'' and ''Rang-du-Fliers-Verton-Berck'') is a railway station serving the towns Rang-du-Fliers, Verton and Berck, all in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France.
Services
The station is served by ...
has rail connections to Calais, Boulogne, Amiens and Paris.
History
Rang-du-Fliers became a commune in 1870, having been previously only a hamlet of
Verton
Verton () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Verton is located 6 miles (9 km) southwest of Montreuil-sur-Mer at the D143 and D303 road junction, and 3 miles (5 km) from the ...
. The population of this hamlet lived poorly amid the marshes and fields that had formed over the centuries behind the dunes.
Boatmen, weavers, labourers and a few tenants occupying the cob houses built on land by the edge of the many drainage ditches.
"Rang" comes from ''Rin'' meaning canal or "Tringue" a drainage trench (this term is still found in Great Tringue, north of the town), and closely related to the English
rhyne
A rhyne (Somerset), rhine/rhyne (Gloucestershire), or reen ( South Wales) (all pronounced "reen"; from Old English ''ryne'' or Welsh ''rhewyn'' or ''rhewin'' "ditch") is a term used in parts of England and Wales for a drainage ditch, or can ...
.
"Fliers" comes from the Flemish ''Vliet'' which means "Little River". Hence the name "Rein-Vliet" (Rang-du-Fliers). This etymology has shifted somewhat over time, so we find Reng-du-Fliez in an entry of at the castle of Beaurain dated 1633, "Le Rang Deflier" on a map of 1790 and "Le Rang d'Effliers" on a military map of 1830.
The future of Rang-du-Fliers turned in the middle of the 19th century with the construction of the railway line from Paris to Calais. In 1848, the mayor of Verton refused the building of a station in the town because of alleged pollution, and it was decided instead to build it at Rang-du-Fliers.
The
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
rapidly took on an importance, especially when a sugar mill was built in 1858 and the commune enjoyed ever-growing prosperity, employing up to 800 people in the years before 1914 during the beet campaigns.
Since 1867, the village of Rang-du-Fliers had everything to make a commune: a church (1864), a priest, a cemetery, a station, a school and a factory that encouraged more and more workers to settle there.
The idea of separating from Verton had its way, helped by the lack of interest shown by the Verton council. After two petitions and many heated debates, Rang-du-Fliers was elevated to separate commune status by imperial decree on 17 July 1870.
Population
Places of interest
* The church of St. Eugene, dating from the nineteenth century.
Notable people
* Micheline Ostermeyer, Olympic champion athlete and pianist, was born here.
* Jacques Maximin, chef.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...