The Scarpe () is a river in the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as 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. ...

region of France. It is a is long left-bank tributary of the river Escaut (

Scheldt The Scheldt ( ; ; ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to Old Englis ...

). The source of the river is at

Berles-Monchel Berles-Monchel () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A village located 11 miles (17 km) northwest of Arras on the D82 junction with the N39 road, in the valley, and the ...

near Aubigny-en-Artois. It flows through the towns of

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) 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 Artois region, with a ...

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

and

Saint-Amand-les-Eaux Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (; former ) is a commune in the Nord department, northern France. It lies on the river Scarpe, 12 km northwest of Valenciennes. In French, the town people are named ''Amandinois'' (m), ''Amandinoise'' (f). Saint ...

. The river ends at

Mortagne-du-Nord Mortagne-du-Nord () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies on the border with Belgium, on the river Scheldt. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the ...

, where it flows into the Scheldt.

Scarpe Mountain Scarpe Mountain is located at the head of Commerce Creek and straddles the Continental Divide marking the Alberta-British Columbia border. It was named after the Scarpe River in France. See also * List of peaks on the Alberta–British Columbia ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, was named after the river. The navigable waterway and its coal barges also feature in the novels by the 19th-century author

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, ; ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of Naturalism (literature), naturalism, and an important contributor to ...

Navigation

The river was made navigable by 15 weirs and locks over about two thirds of its length (), divided into the Upper Scarpe (, 23 km, 9 locks) from Arras to

Courchelettes Courchelettes () is a commune of the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The c ...

, the Middle Scarpe through Douai, and the Lower Scarpe (, 36 km, 6 locks) from Douai to the Escaut. The Middle Scarpe is no longer navigable, bypassed by the high-capacity

Canal Dunkerque-Escaut The Dunkirk-Scheldt Canal is a 189 km long series of historic canals, and the canalised river Scheldt that were substantially rebuilt from the mid-1950s up to ca. 1980, with some new sections, from Dunkirk to the Belgian border at Mortagne-d ...

History

This river was navigated from the Escaut up to Douai as early as 638, but improvements with flash locks were required to give access to the important town of Arras, reached in 1613. This remained a shallow navigation, with locks of varying width and length, until it was improved to the Becquey gauge in the 1840s. The enlargement to

Freycinet gauge The Freycinet gauge () is a standard governing the dimensions of the locks of some canals, put in place as a result of a law passed during the tenure of Charles de Freycinet as minister of public works of France, dating from 5 August 1879. The l ...

was completed by about 1890. Today the Lower Scarpe is closed from the Douai junction to Saint-Amand-les-Eaux pending dredging and identification of a new owner and operator. The river and its valley were important battlegrounds in the Battle of the Scarpe in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The valley of the Scarpe has been designated as a protected

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

References

External links

River Scarpe
with further maps and details of places and moorings, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France''
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals
(French waterways website section) {{Authority control Rivers of Nord (French department) Rivers of the Pas-de-Calais World War I in the Pas-de-Calais Rivers of Hauts-de-France Rivers of France Ramsar sites in Metropolitan France Hauts-de-France region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia