Ambleteuse (; vls, Ambeltuwe) 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 Pas-de-Calais department 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 area ...

History

Ambleteuse began as a hamlet of a few huts in the middle of the

dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

, from which the derisory name of “carcahuttes" (huts made from old-boat hulls) was once given to its inhabitants by their neighbors at Audresselles. The reason for its existence relates to the temporary needs of various invaders for conquering people from either side of 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 Kana ...

. Ambleteuse is one of the candidates for the harbour that

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, ...

used to set out from for his invasion of Britain in 54 BC, though

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the C ...

is the more usually accepted site. The origin of the name of Ambleteuse remains uncertain. Some scholars claim it has Celtic origins (''Ambleat''), but that does not exclude the etymology "Hamel Thuys", a name given by the Saxons in the 6th century, as they too used the harbour when they emigrated to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

had two forts built here in 1546 to maintain a show of power towards the French kings. Ambleteuse was chosen to provide an alternative harbour, and was called the 'Newhaven.' The other fort at nearby

Cap Gris-Nez Cap Gris-Nez (literally "cape grey nose"; ) is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France. The 'Cliffs of the Cape' is the closest point of France to England – from their English counterparts at ...

, was called the 'Blackness.'Colvin, Howard, ed., ''The History of the King's Works'', vol. 3 part 1, (1975), 388-389. The forces of

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

eventually conquered them in 1549. Henry, having killed all the English prisoners, then found a stock of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

in the fort. This was the first time that its use was noted on the continent. At the end of the 17th century, Sébastien Vauban constructed Fort Mahon at the mouth of the river Slack. This is the only coastal fort from that era that has been preserved in France, thanks to restoration promoted by Dr. Méraut and the geologist Monsieur Destombe, who together created the "Association of the friends of Ambleteuse Fort" in 1960.

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

modified the estuary of the Slack to create a harbour, from where he planned to invade England in (1805). The foundations of the harbour are still visible today. At the end of the 19th century, Ambleteuse became a popular place for holidays for people from

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. The middle classes had become interested in sea-bathing and hunting, shooting and fishing. Oyster-beds were built in the bay, to complete the ambiance of bourgeois life. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the area fell under German military occupation. There was a

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

built in the environs. Between 1941 and 1943, the German engineers of

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering pr ...

installed bunkers for artillery at the fort as part of work on the Atlantic Wall. In the bay of the river they also built sluices to flood the valley to prevent an Allied landing.

Population

Sights

* The bay of the river Slack with its rare plants * The fort, built by Vauban in the 17th century. * Saint-Pierre's chapel; *

museum; * The remains of an English fort; * Villas of the Belle Époque; * Public gardens

Personalities

may have built his port here to prepare for the invasion of Britain. *St. Peter of Ambleteuse (7th century); * Henri II, liberator of Ambleteuse from English rule; *

Napoléon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, who built another port here to prepare for the invasion of Britain *Jean Paul Destombe, geologist who determined the route under the sea for the channel tunnel *

Maurice Boitel Maurice Boitel (July 31, 1919 – August 11, 2007) was a French painter. Artistic life Boitel belonged to the art movement called "La Jeune Peinture" ("Young Picture") of the School of Paris,The School of Paris (1945–1965) by Lydia Harambourg. ...

, artist

References

External links