Barneville-Carteret () is a commune in the Manche

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

of north-western France. For many years it has been a popular seaside resort destination. The commune resulted from a merger of two communes in 1964: Barneville-sur-Mer and Carteret whose port has ferry connections to the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Barnevillais'' or ''Barnevillaises'' and ''Carteretais'' or ''Carteretaises''.

Geography

Barneville-Carteret is located on the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula some 40 km south by south-west of

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

and 10 km north of

Portbail Portbail (; sometimes spelled Port-Bail) is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Port-Bail-sur-Mer.Les Moitiers-d'Allonne Les Moitiers-d'Allonne () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France See also *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 communes of the Manche department of France. The communes coope ...

to the north which passes through the north of the commune and continues south-east following the coast to ''Le Pont de La Roque''. The commune is both a seaside resort and a port.

Port of Carteret

The Port of Carteret is the present port of Barneville-Carteret. Sometimes called a "port of the isles", it is located on the right bank of the mouth of the Gerfleur River, at the end of Cape Carteret. A rescue station was built in 1865. The large pier and south mole were completed in 1880. In the following year a ferry began service to

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

. The small port was used as a shelter for fishermen during spring tide, In 1945 the port was enlarged with the help of combat engineers from the American 280th Battalion stationed in Carteret."Barneville-Carteret, classified sea resort", promotional brochure, Tourist office of Barneville-Carteret, 1st quarter 2011, p. 17.

Barneville

Built on a hill and dating to the Middle Ages, Barneville is built around the church of Saint Germanus of Auxerre. Its architecture is Romanesque, and it was fortified during the Middle Ages for coastal surveillance. The main shops and services of the area are here and there is a market on Saturday. In the street below the town the remains of medieval walls that protected the city and seaside can be visited with a view of Cartaret harbour, the sea, and the Channel Islands.

Barneville Beach

Barneville Beach is a residential area consisting primarily of campsites and vacation homes. The city is quiet out of season but experiences heavy traffic during the summer. The resort area spreads into the neighbouring town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Rivière, which was built on an ancient sand dune.

The Village des Rivières

Like the ''Village du Tôt'', this village is a small hamlet located on the road that leads to the mouth of the Gerfleur from the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Rivière. Built on the edge of the harbour, it was once home to fishermen who moored their boats close to their homes. Carteret harbour allowed them a safe anchorage without the need to build a port. The village straddles the communes of Barneville-Carteret to the northwest and that of Saint-Jean-de-la-Rivière to the south-east.

Geology and Relief

The ''Cap de Carteret'' is located at the end of the Armorican Massif and retains traces of the formation with

Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the ...

deformed

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

s and metamorphic

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes o ...

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

folded

arkose Arkose () or arkosic sandstone is a detrital sedimentary rock, specifically a type of sandstone containing at least 25% feldspar. Arkosic sand is sand that is similarly rich in feldspar, and thus the potential precursor of arkose. Quartz is c ...

from the Variscan orogeny, and shale and armoricain sandstone from the Ordovician period. From Barneville to Saint-Jean-de-la-Rivière the coast is lined with sand dunes backed by tidal marshes.

Hydrography

The commune is bordered by the sea. The construction of the port in the 19th century was accompanied by the diversion of the Gerfleur river whose mouth was located at the current port.

Climate

The town has a temperate ocean climate with an average humidity of 84 percent. Its location on the coast results in a strong sea breeze and frequent storms. There are significant seasonal variations in temperature and rare days of frost (7.3 days a year). The combined effects of wind and tides cause rapid weather changes: in the course of a day, sun and rain can follow one another within a few hours. The influence of the Gulf Stream and the mild winters allow the growing of Mediterranean and exotic plants such as mimosas, palms and agave. Average humidity is 84.42% which varies only by about 2-3% throughout the year.

Communication and transport

Maritime links

*Barneville-Carteret to Jersey **Service to Gorey (operated by ''Vedettes du Cotentin'' since 2010 and by ''Manche-îles express''). **Service to Saint Helier (operated by ''Manche-îles express''). *Barneville-Carteret to

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

. **Service to Saint Peter Port (operated by ''Manche-îles express'').

Road links

The commune is served all year by two services operated by Manéo: *10: Barneville-Carteret to Les Pieux to

; *11:

Rail connections

In festival periods on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, it is possible to go from Portbail to the centre of Carteret on the ''Train touristique du Cotentin''. The nearest main railway is 29 km away at Valognes which is served by the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

Mantes-la-Jolie–Cherbourg railway The railway from Mantes-la-Jolie to Cherbourg is an important French 228-kilometre long railway line, that connects Mantes-la-Jolie, a western suburb of Paris, with the northwestern port city Cherbourg via Caen. At Mantes-la-Jolie, the railway li ...

Toponymy

Barneville: The "ville de Barni" (Barni town) after the name of a Scandinavian person.Sources : ''The names of communes and former parishes in Manche'', François Beaurepaire-Dictionnaire étymologique, René Lepelley ''Vikings and Placenames of Normandy'', Jean Renaud Carteret: From the Scandinavian ''Kart'' (stony ground) and the Scandinavian ''Reidh'' meaning "anchorage".

History

Barneville appears as ''Barneville'' on the 1750

Cassini Map The Cassini Map or Academy's Map is the first topographic and geometric map made of the Kingdom of France as a whole. It was compiled by the Cassini family, mainly César-François Cassini (Cassini III) and his son Jean-Dominique Cassini (Ca ...

and the same on the 1790 version. Carteret appears as ''Carteret'' on the 1750

and the same on the 1790 version.

Ancient Families

The famed

de Carteret family The de Carteret family was perhaps the greatest of the patrician families of the Channel Islands. Their influence on the Island would last from the 10th century until the present time. Origins The family originated from Normandy where their ance ...

of the Norman nobility played powerful roles in English history. They held many possessions on the continent, the Channel Islands, and later, in the American colony. Their surname stems from Carteret, the stony anchorage site in Normandy. Guy de Carteret, a.k.a. "The Fowler", (circa 960-1004) was the first Lord of the Barony of Carteret in Normandy for which there is record. They also held the lordship of St. Ouen on the Isle of Jersey. Family members assisted William the Conqueror at Hastings and took part in the Crusades alongside Robert, son of the duke of Normandy. "Three times has the Island of Jersey been rescued by the valor and sagacity of members of this family from the dominion of the French, events of unequaled importance in its history...." In the village of Barneville, behind the church, is the remains of a Motte-and-bailey castle which was transformed into a calvary that was called ''Mallet's Mound'' after the Mallet family of Carteret and Barneville mentioned in 1066.Frédéric Scuvée. The square church tower from the 15th century has a parapet over a blind arcade which was besieged by the English in September 1499.

Modern era

Barneville and Carteret evolved into resorts during the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...

when seaside holidays came into vogue.

Second World War

Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-296-1982-04A, Nordfrankreich, Rommel am Atlantikwall

After the invasion of June 1940 the communes of Carteret and Barneville-sur-Mer became important sites in the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

. The fortifications of Barneville-sur-mer, Hatainville, Beaubigny and Carteret bore the codes "Wn 329", "Wn 326", "Wn 325", "Wn324d" and "R 612". Most fortifications are still visible except at Baubigny where it was totally buried in the sand. On 18 June 1944 an armoured column of the 69th regiment of the 9th US Infantry Division entered Barneville and, after ten days of fighting, the town was liberated. The US military remained in Barneville and Carteret until autumn 1945. At Graffard mansion there were performances of the " Can-can" for the US soldiers. It was also the headquarters of the famed British

30 Assault Unit No. 30 Commando, from 1943 to 1946 known as 30 Assault Unit, was a British Commando unit during the Second World War, originally formed to gather intelligence. History Formation In a 2012 documentary Dieppe Uncovered, Canadian Professor David O ...

until July.

Heraldry

Entrée de l'ancien corps de garde de Carteret

Administration

List of Successive

Mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

The Municipal council is made up of 19 members including a Mayor and 5 deputies.

Twinning

Barneville-Carteret has twinning associations with: * Eschede (Germany) since 1989. * St Lawrence (Jersey)

Demography

In 2017 the commune had 2,231 inhabitants. In the table and graph below, population data before 1964 refer to the former commune of Barneville.

Amenities

Education

The commune has a primary school – ''Le Clos des Sources'' under the Academy of Caen.

Festivals

*The Festival of the sea, every year in August at the port of Carteret. *The festive Evenings of Potinière in summer. *The cycle race called Gainsbarre in tribute to the singer who gave a big donation to the cycling club organiser and which has taken place every year in April since 2004. *The Trails de La Mère Denis et des Lavandières passes through the Côte des Isles every year since 2010 around 14 July. *The Trail de la Barjo'' whose departure takes place on the beach of Barneville in June every year. *The Tour of the Channel ports yachting regatta. *The Challenge de La Déroute sailing regatta held each year in early September. *The Raid d'aviron de mer Jersey – Carteret rowing regatta is held every year on the last Saturday of July and that of Culs gelés in December. *The Kite Festival every year in July in Barneville-Plage. *The Défi du Daubon, sculling race held every year in October in the port of Carteret since the 1950s.

Sports

The Athletic Union Côte des Isles has a soccer team in the Basse-Normandie League and one in the District Division.

Films

Barneville-Carteret has featured in the following films: *1948 : ''

Une si jolie petite plage Une is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located at an altitude of at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Chipaque in the no ...

'' (A pretty little beach) by

Yves Allégret Yves Allégret (13 October 1905 – 31 January 1987) was a French film director, often working in the film noir genre. He was born in Asnières-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine and died in Paris. He was an assistant to film directors such as his brothe ...

*1988 : ''La Petite Voleuse'' ( The Little Thief) by Claude Miller *1990 : ''Le Mari de la coiffeuse'' (

The Hairdresser's Husband ''The Hairdresser's Husband'' (french: Le Mari de la coiffeuse), a 1990 French comedy-drama film written by Patrice Leconte and Claude Klotz, and directed by Leconte. Jean Rochefort stars as the title character. Anna Galiena co-stars. The fi ...

) by

Patrice Leconte Patrice Leconte (; born 12 November 1947) is a French film director, actor, comic strip writer, and screenwriter. Life and career Leconte grew up in Tours, and began making little amateur films at 15. He went to Paris in 1967 and studied at Insti ...

*2007 : ''Vent mauvais'' ( Ill Wind) by

Stéphane Allagnon Stéphane Allagnon (born 1967 in Paris) is a French film director and screenwriter. He spent his youth in ''Normandy'', ( Isigny-sur-Mer ). He graduated in Architecture at École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville in 1992. ...

*2008 : ''Deux jours à tuer'' Two days of killing) by Jean Becker

Literature

*Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly located the second part of ''

Une vieille maîtresse (''An old mistress'') is an 1851 novel by the French writer Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly. It tells the story of a wayward dandy who falls in love with a young woman but is unable to fully leave his former mistress behind. The book was published by Ale ...

'' in Carteret. *Several novels by Paul-Jacques Bonzon are set in "Barneret" and "Carteville" in the Cotentin.

Economy

Tourism

Located facing the Channel Islands ( Écréhous 12 km,

22 km, Sark 40 km,

Herm Herm (Guernésiais: , ultimately from Old Norse 'arm', due to the shape of the island, or Old French 'hermit') is one of the Channel Islands and part of the Parish of St Peter Port in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. It is located in the English ...

45 km,

Alderney Alderney (; french: Aurigny ; Auregnais: ) is the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency. It is long and wide. The island's area is , making it the third-largest ...

45 km, Minquiers 45 km,

55 km), and Chausey 55 km). There are 1578 second homes, a hotel capacity of 151 rooms and 600 campsites. The summer population is estimated at 12000.''Barneville-Carteret, Beach Resort Classification'', Office of Tourism of Barneville-Carteret, 2011. Tourists are attracted by, among others, the marina (311 berths inside, 60 visitor berths, and 95 anchorages). Fishing activity is important and diversified in the fishing port: fish (

flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related species, thou ...

, pouting, dogfish), but mostly crustaceans ( spider crabs,

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

s, and

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

s). There are numerous activities: swimming and water sports, angling (on the beach Barneville at low tide in the rocks or sand there are

limpet Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended indep ...

s, cockles, whelks, periwinkles, crabs,

velvet crab The velvet crab, or alternately ''velvet swimming crab'', ''devil crab'', “fighter crab”, or ''lady crab,'' ''Necora puber'', is a species of crab from the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It is the largest of the swimming crab fam ...

s, and

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

. At Carteret point it is possible to find Weever fish. There is also hiking in the dunes, golf, and horseback riding. Since 1993, the

Foundation for Environmental Education The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation promoting sustainable development through environmental education. FEE is active through five programmes; Blue Flag, Eco-Schools, Young Reporters fo ...

has certified Barneville-Carteret (beaches and port) with a Blue Flag for environmental quality and since 2013 as a "FamilyPlus" Beach. The town's seaside resort has been classified as a "Tourist Commune" since 1921. Together with

Portbail Portbail (; sometimes spelled Port-Bail) is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Port-Bail-sur-Mer.Denneville Denneville () is a former commune in the Manche department in north-western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Port-Bail-sur-Mer. Barneville-carteret gare carteret cpa

Église Saint-Germain le Scot de Carteret

Carteret is linked to Portbail by the ''Train touristique du Cotentin'' during the season. There is also a railway station in Barneville located between the town and the harbour bridge.

Shellfish

Barneville Beach and the foreshore of Cape Carteret at low tide are ideal places for recreational fishing. The popular and famous species in this area are: * Brown crabs; *

Velvet crab The velvet crab, or alternately ''velvet swimming crab'', ''devil crab'', “fighter crab”, or ''lady crab,'' ''Necora puber'', is a species of crab from the North-East Atlantic and the Mediterranean. It is the largest of the swimming crab fam ...

s; * European Lobsters; * Common Prawns; *Common periwinkles; * Common slipper limpet; *Sea Spiders (Maja brachydactyla).

Civil heritage

*The Hamlet of Landes. *Rue des Ormes: old houses of sea captains. *Carteret Manor (18th century) *The Château des Sirènes, built for and inhabited by the painter Adolphe Lalyre then sold to

Henry Franklin-Bouillon Henry Franklin-Bouillon (3 September 1870 - 12 September 1937) was a French politician. Franklin-Bouillon was born in Jersey. He began as a member of the Radical-Socialist Party, but belonged to its furthest right-wing: he advocated that the ...

. *The Village du Tôt and the Lavoir (Public Laundry) of ''Mère Denis''. Mère Denis (Jeanne Marie Le Calvé) settled here and ran a laundry. She was noticed in 1972 by the publicists for the brand "Vedette" who gave her the nickname ''Mère Denis'' and publicised the Village du Tôt. *The Neire Mâove

Schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

*Stations of the Cotentin tourist train *The Fishing port and marina The commune has several buildings and sites that are registered as historical monuments: *The Graffard Manor (1575) *The former Corps de Garde (1745) *The Carteret Lighthouse (1837) A Railway Carriage called "Bruhat" No. BB44586 (19th century) is registered as an historical object.

Religious heritage

*Saint-Germain-Le-Scot Church in Carteret (20th century) *The former Saint Louis Church in Carteret *The remains of the ancient Saint-Germain-Le-Scot Church in Carteret. *The Saint-Germain of Barneville Church (12th century) is registered as an historical monument The Church contains two items that are registered as historical objects: *The main Altar, Altar seating, Tabernacle and base (18th century) *6

Stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows (1935)

Environmental heritage

*The Hatainville dunes. *Cape Carteret *The Biard Rock at the end of the cape *The Masse de Romont altitude 99 m. *The Gerfleur Estuary *La Potinière Beach *The Old Church Beach *The Mielles Carteret, also called "The Sand Sea". *The Petit Puits Cliffs at Muret

Notable people linked to the commune

* The Carteret Family * Stéphane Marie, presenter of the TV programme ''Silence, ça pousse !'' on France 5 was originally from Barneville. * Nicolas Dutot (1684–1741), economist, one of the fathers of the quantitative study of economic phenomena, born in Barneville-sur-Mer in the village du Tôt on 12 October 1684.Marc Cheynet de Beaupré, ''The Enigmatic Mr. Dutot. Survey of the identity of a famous but mysterious economist of the 18th century'', Annales de Normandie, 59th year, No. 2, July–December 2009, p. 85-112 *

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist and short story writer. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anythin ...

(1808–1889), French writer, lived in Carteret during his youth and during his writings. * Adolphe Lalyre, (1848–1933), painter, lived for a long period at Carteret and painted the coast. * Jeanne Marie Le Calvé, called ''Mère Denis'' (1893–1989), advertisement character, was a washerwoman in a lavoir in Gerfleur at the Village du Tôt in Barneville-sur-Mer where she was filmed in a commercial that made her famous * Édouard Lebas (1897–1975 at Carteret), prefect and French politician *

Clément Rosset Clément Rosset (; 12 October 1939 – 28 March 2018) was a French philosopher and writer. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, and the author of books on 20th-century philosophy and postmodern philosophy. ...

, born at Carteret on 12 October 1939,

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

* Pierre Bameul, born at Barneville-sur-Mer on 10 November 1940, writer of science fiction * Laurent Cesne, star chef at the Hôtel de la marine and author of a book on Iodine in the kitchen * Jean Barros, Historian of the canton, author of books on the heritage of Tôt. * Roger de Barneville (11th) * Théodore de Barneville (12th) * Michel Noël (1754–1809), politician * Nicolas Noël-Agnès (1794–1866), politician *

Marie-Louise Giraud Marie-Louise Giraud (17 November 1903 – 30 July 1943) was a French abortionist who became one of the last women to be guillotined in France. Giraud was convicted in Vichy France and was executed for having performed 27 abortions in the Cherbour ...

(1903–1943), born at Barneville, guillotined abortionist * François Le Cannellier (-1933), vice-admiral * Clara Ward * Arsène Reynaud de Barbarin (1833–1913), naval officer, lived in the commune *

Jeanne Provost Jeanne Provost (1887–1980) was a French stage and film actress.Goble p.38 She was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1907 to 1912. In 1928 she appeared in the original cast of Marcel Pagnol's play '' Topaze''. Selected filmography * '' Af ...

(1887–1980), comedian, owner of the old presbytery *

Paul-Jacques Bonzon Paul-Jacques Bonzon (31 August 1908 – 24 September 1978) was a French writer, best known for the series '' Les six compagnons'' ("Six companions"). He was born in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, Manche and educated in Saint-Lô. In 1935 he married a tea ...

(1908–1978), French writer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnevillecarteret Communes of Manche Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast Ports and harbours of the English Channel Seaside resorts in France