The

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the ...

Durdent () is one of the many small coastal rivers that flow from the plateau of 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 ...

into 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 Kan ...

. It is long.

Course

The river rises just northwest of

Yvetot Yvetot () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. It is the capital of the Caux region. History The name Yvetot comes from the Germanic ''Yvo'' and the Old Norse ''-topt''. Therefore, Yvetot mean ...

, near Héricourt-en-Caux, at the meeting of the two streams, the Saint-Denis and the Saint-Riquier,Albert Hennetier, ''Aux sources normandes: Promenade au fil des rivières en Seine-Maritime'', p. 28. then takes a north-northwest route, typical of the rivers of 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. It passes through the villages of

Robertot Robertot () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming village by the wooded banks of the river Durdent, in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Le Havre, at the junction of th ...

, Sommesnil, Oherville, Le Hanouard, Clasville,

Grainville-la-Teinturière Grainville-la-Teinturière () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming and forestry village situated by the banks of the river Durdent in the Pays de Caux, some southwest of ...

Cany-Barville Cany-Barville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A farming and light industrial town situated by the banks of the river Durdent in the Pays de Caux, some southwest of Dieppe, ...

, Vittefleur and Paluel and empties into the

at Veulettes-sur-Mer. In earlier times, it powered many

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the productio ...

s along its course.

Flora and fauna

The Durdent valley is home to many bats such as the rare vespers bat, the large and lesser

horseshoe bat Horseshoe bats are bats in the family Rhinolophidae. In addition to the single living genus, ''Rhinolophus'', which has about 106 species, the extinct genus ''Palaeonycteris'' has been recognized. Horseshoe bats are closely related to the Old ...

and the

mouse-eared bats The mouse-eared bats or myotises are a diverse and widespread genus (''Myotis'') of bats within the family Vespertilionidae. The noun "''myotis''" itself is a New Latin construction, from the Greek "''muós'' (meaning "mouse") and "''oûs''" (mea ...

. More common species, such as the

long-eared bat Plecotini is a tribe of bats in the family Vespertilionidae. It contains several genera found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, in Eurasia, North Africa, and North America. Several genera in this tribe are known as big-eared bats or long-eared ...

and

Daubenton's Bat Daubenton's bat or Daubenton's myotis (''Myotis daubentonii'') is a Eurasian bat with rather short ears. It ranges from Ireland to Japan (Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and n ...

are present in large numbers.Le bois de la Roquette
sur le site

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

. Consulté le 11 juin 2008.

Kniphofia ''Kniphofia'' is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the family Asphodelaceae, first described as a genus in 1794. Species are native to Africa. Common names include tritoma, red hot poker, torch lily and poker plant. Description Herbaceou ...

(red-hot pokers) grow in a few places along the river's course.

References

Rivers of France Rivers of Normandy Rivers of Seine-Maritime 0Durdent {{France-river-stub

Course

Flora and fauna

See also

References