Saint-Valery-en-Caux (, literally ''Saint-Valery in Caux'') is a

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 ...

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-Inféri ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

region 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 ...

. The addition of an

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accent in the Latin and Greek alphabets, precomposed ...

on the "e" (Valéry) is incorrect.

Geography

The town is located north of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...

. A small

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...

port and light industrial town situated in 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 cliffs o ...

, some west of

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to N ...

at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads. Here, huge

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...

cliffs rise up from the pebble beach (sandy at low tide) to overlook 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 ...

. The SNCF station closed in the 1990s and the only public transport available is an infrequent bus service. 0 Saint-Valery-en-Caux - Maison dite de Henri IV

0 Saint-Valery-en-Caux - Maison dite de Henri IV

Affiche-Chemin-de-Fer-Saint-Valery-en-Caux-1892

History

It is said to have been founded by Saint Valery in the 7th century. A monastery was built on the site of the present-day town and was known as ‘’’Sanctum Walaricum’’’ in 990 CE, according to the charter in which

Richard I, Duke of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...

, gave the town (part of his personal property) to the abbey of Fecamp. A busy fishing port from the 13th to the 17th century, its decline was due to the growth of the much larger port of Fecamp, to the west. It is perhaps best known as the place where the British 51st (Highland) Infantry Division commanded by

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Victor Fortune and French troops surrendered to Major-General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

on 12 June 1940, with the town partly destroyed in the fighting. Saint-Valéry-en-Caux was liberated on 11 September 1944 by a re-formed 51st Highland division, among scenes of great local jubilation. On 17 January 1945, the railway station was destroyed when a runaway train full of American troops crashed into it. 89 American soldiers were killed and 152 were injured.Russell C. Eustice Recalls the Troop Train 2980 Tragedy at St. Valery-en-Caux During World War II
/ref>
The town has a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

, a waterpark and has achieved the highest rating of four flowers in the annual France in Bloom competition.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

now accounts for much of the town's prosperity.

Heraldry

Population

Places of interest

* The church of St. Valery, dating from the fifteenth century. *A Norman-style half-timber house . * The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...

cemetery. * A seventeenth-century

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

from the old

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

. * 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 ...

. * The memorial to the 51st Highland Division, on the cliff tops.

People

* French artist Adrien Victor Auger (1787–1854), was born here in October 1787. * Orientalist Charles Defrémery (1822–1883) died in Saint-Valery-en-Caux. * Chelsea Football Club footballer

Demba Ba Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego. He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron and ...

grew up here.

Twin towns

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Sontheim Sontheim (full name: Sontheim an der Brenz) is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located northeast of Ulm, at the southern end of the Swabian Jura. Neighboring municipalities Sonthe ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...