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-Infér ...

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 geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in northern

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 ar ...

. 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 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 ...

, 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 plate ...

. The

tidal bore Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

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 commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres (three miles) downstream ...

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 The Brotonne Bridge (''pont de Brotonne'') is a bridge in the region of Normandy in France, situated between the cities of Le Havre and Rouen. It has crossed the Seine since 1977, to the east of the commune of Caudebec-en-Caux. Its construc ...

, 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 cliffs ...

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 in Cumbria, England, historically within Cumberland, it is situated within the Lake District National Park. The village had 714 inhabitants according to the census of 2001. Caldbeck is closely associated with neighbouri ...

, ''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 is the term which is used in reference to a period of civil war between French Catholics and Protestants, commonly called Huguenots, which lasted from 1562 to 1598. According to estimates, between two and four mil ...

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 historical state of Northern Italy, which existed between 1545 and 1802, and again from 1814 to 1859. The Duke of Parma was also Duke of Piacenza, except ...

but was trapped by an army under

Henry IV of France Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarc ...

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

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) 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 ...

Heraldry

Sights

The chief architectural interest of the town lies in its

Flamboyant Flamboyant (from ) is a form of late Gothic architecture that developed in Europe in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, from around 1375 to the mid-16th century. It is characterized by double curves forming flame-like shapes in the bar-t ...

church, which was constructed during the 15th and the early 16th centuries. Round its top run balustrades formed of

Gothic letter Blackletter (sometimes black letter), also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 until the 17th century. It continued to be commonly used for the Danish, Norweg ...

s, 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, the Canticle of Mary and, in the Byzantine tradition, the Ode of the Theotokos (). It is traditionally incorporated into the liturgical service ...

''. Its west portal, the decoration of the spire of the tower, and its stained glass 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 fround 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 cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...

. **''Monument du

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

'' ** 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 Cecil Louis Troughton Smith (27 August 1899 – 2 April 1966), known by his pen name Cecil Scott "C. S." Forester, was an English novelist known for writing tales of naval warfare, such as the 12-book Horatio Hornblower series depicting a Roya ...

's novel ''

Lord Hornblower ''Lord Hornblower'' (published 1946) is a Horatio Hornblower novel written by C. S. Forester. Hornblower, a Knight of the Bath, is tasked with suppressing a mutiny on board a Royal Navy ship. He succeeds, and with reinforcements captures Le Havr ...

'', 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, radio and television programmes, a ...

series set during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. 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 Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (7 May 1865 – 22 November 1948) was an English author and politician. He is best remembered for his 1902 novel of courage and cowardice in wartime, ''The Four Feathers'' and is also known as the creator of Inspecto ...

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 141 ...

, 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 François Duprat (26 October 1940 – 18 March 1978) was an essayist and politician, a founding member of the Front National party and part of the leadership until his assassination in 1978. Duprat was one of the main architects in the introducti ...

(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 French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photog ...