Cap Gris-Nez (literally "cape grey nose"; ) is a
cape on the
Côte d'Opale in the
Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...
''
département'' in northern
France.
The 'Cliffs of the Cape' is the closest point of France to
England – from their English counterparts at
Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
.
Etymology
''Gris-nez'' literally means "grey nose" in
English. It is derived from colloquial Dutch "grey cape"; officially, the Dutch name was ''Swartenesse'' ("black cape") to set it apart from ''Blankenesse'' "white cape" (
Cap Blanc-Nez
Cap Blanc-Nez (french: kap blɑ̃ ne, literally "Cape White Nose" in English; from Dutch ''Blankenesse'', white headland) is a cape on the Côte d'Opale, in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'', in northern France, culminating at 134 m. The cli ...
) to the northeast. The element ''-nesse'' is
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
to English ''
-ness'', denoting "headland", as in for example
Dungeness or
Sheerness
Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby town ...
.
Geology
The cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez are made of
sandstone,
clay and
chalk. They are mainly grey, which gives the cape its name. It is also a popular place to collect fossils, which are mainly from the Jurassic period. Common fossils include bivalves, gastropods and wood. In the sandstone layers with small pebbles, one can find teeth of fish and reptiles. Sometimes, larger
ammonites are found in the sandstones.
The cape is a regular stopover for millions of migratory birds.
History
The proximity of the cape to England led to the frequent destruction of the nearby village of
Audinghen in wars between England and France. On the top of the cliff are the ruins of an English fortress, built by
Henry VIII
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 ...
at the beginning of the 16th century. The English called the fort 'Blackness', a translation of the Dutch name ''Swartenisse''.
[Colvin, Howard, ed., ''The History of the King's Works'', vol. 3 part 1, HMS0 (1975), 388-9.]
;
Napoleonic Wars
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 ...
stopped at the cape on 1 July 1803, whilst making an inspection of the coast around
Boulogne-sur-Mer and of his
invasion troops. He then envisioned setting up a cross-Channel
optical telegraph
An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and ...
, with a semaphore on the cape. The first semaphore of this line was installed on the cape in 1805, without waiting for the planned French invasion of England. On 18 July 1805,
a naval battle took place off the cape. A British flotilla with strong numerical superiority pursued Dutch ships that were following the coast and trying to get into the harbour at
Ambleteuse. Expecting an attack of this type, Napoleon had stationed a battery of 300 guns on the cape, and a barrage from this force obliged the British vessels to withdraw.
;
World War II
Commandant
Ducuing and his men died on May 25, 1940, while defending the semaphore, and a commemorative
stela was later placed on the cape to commemorate this sacrifice.
Later, the Germans built a
blockhouse
A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
inside the Tudor ruins. The locality has a cluster of World War II bunkers, part of 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 ...
intended to rebuff the anticipated allied invasion. There are heavy artillery sites – Grosser Kurfürst Battery, formerly with three 170 millimeter guns, and
Todt Battery
Todt is a German surname.
Surname
People with the Todt surname include:
* Anthony Todt (born 1975), American mass murderer (2019 Todt family murders)
* Emil Todt ( 18101900), German artist and sculptor
* Fritz Todt (18911942), German enginee ...
, with four 380 mm guns. These covered the approaches to both Calais and
Boulogne
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 ...
and they were protected by massive concrete blockhouses and other lesser defensive sites. One of the Todt Battery blockhouses now houses the Atlantic Wall Museum.
Units of the
3rd Canadian Infantry Division
The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as all units extending westwards from th ...
liberated the area in September 1944.
;
Post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
The cylindrical concrete lighthouse at Cap Gris-Nez dates from 1958. It is 31 meters (102 feet) high, and replaces an earlier structure destroyed in 1944.
The lighthouse and its accompanying radar station provide guidance to over 500 ships passing the cape every day.
See also
*
Itius Portus
*
Cross-Channel guns in the Second World War
References
External links
{{Coord, 50, 52, 15, N, 1, 35, 01, E, region:FR_type:landmark, display=title
Landforms of the Pas-de-Calais
Gris Nez
Landforms of Hauts-de-France
Chalk landforms