Eu Forest
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The Eu forest (french: Forêt d'Eu) is one of the great forests of
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-Inféri ...
, in
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 ...
. Covering an area of , this
beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
forest, located in Le Petit Caux in the north-east of the department and the region, has close historical links to the Orléans family.


Description

A narrow band more than 30 km long and 5 to 6 km wide, the Eu Forest covers the easternmost part of the
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
plateau that separates the
Yères The Yères () is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the department of Seine-Maritime. Geography The river's source is in the forest of Eu, just south of the village of Aubermesnil-aux-Érables. Its course takes a northerl ...
and
Bresle Bresle () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Bresle is situated on the D226 road, some northwest of Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in norther ...
rivers to the south-east of the town of Eu. This area extends from
Saint-Pierre-en-Val Saint-Pierre-en-Val () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A forestry and farming village situated in the valley of the river Bresle in the Pays de Bray, some northeast of Dieppe, ...
, near Eu to the surroundings of
Aumale Aumale (), formerly known as Albemarle," is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. It lies on the River Bresle. History The town's Latin name was ''Alba Marla''. It was raised by William th ...
and Mortemer. The Eu forest is made up of several distinct zones. Immediately to the south-east of Eu is the ''Triage d'Eu'' (), a slender-looking forest covering a small ridge bordering the Bresle Valley and the slopes of the dry
Incheville Incheville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A village of forestry, farming and light industry situated by the banks of the river Bresle in the Pays de Bray, some northeast of ...
valley. Further south, the ''Upper Eu Forest'' (), is more massive, covering a tabular ridge of about 200m altitude. In the vicinity of Aumale, the ''Lower Eu Forest'' () occupies the southern end of the plateau, which is more tabular in appearance. These three massifs are separated by relatively large cultivated spaces, formerly wooded. Nearby isolated woodlands may also be included (adding a further total surface of ): the woods of Tôt, Gomard, Cuverville, Saint-Martin-le-Gaillard along the Yères, and the wood of Guimerville from the Grand-Marché to the south-east of Blangy-sur-Bresle. It is a naturally deciduous forest, but conifers were planted in the "voids" of the forest from 1900 to 1912, before this policy was extended to other Normandy forests (generally maintaining at least 90% hardwood). The National Forest Fund then further encouraged the re - encroachment of the coppice areas under single forest and coppice of private forests (throughout France ). One of the curiosities of the forest of Eu has long been the ' (or wolves' oak), 27 meters high and planted in the seventeenth century; still living despite having fallen.


Natural heritage

The Eu forest and the adjacent grasslands are a '
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, respectively ...
' site. The Upper Eu forest and Yères and Bresle valleys are in a ''Natural zone of ecological interest, fauna and flora'' (''french:
Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique A Zone naturelle d'intérêt écologique, faunistique et floristique (Natural zone of ecological interest, fauna and flora), abbreviated as ZNIEFF, is a type of natural environment recognized by France. The inventory of a ZNIEFF area is an invent ...
'' or ''ZNIEFF''). The Lower Eu forest is also in a ''Natural zone of ecological interest, fauna and flora''.


History and exploitation

The history of this forest begins with the abandonment, in the third century, of the
Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...
city, 'Briga', built on the Beaumont plateau at a place called Bois l'Abbé, current excavations showing that this city was not surrounded by forested areas. In 1036,
Robert, Count of Eu Robert, Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings (d. between 1089-1093), son of William I, Count of Eu, and his wife Lesceline. Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings. Robert commanded 60 ships in the fleet supporting the landing of William I of England and t ...
, granted the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Michel du Tréport the
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...
of
pannage Pannage (also referred to as ''Eichelmast'' or ''Eckerich'' in Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia) is the practice of releasing livestock-domestic pig, pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on falle ...
of the forest of Eu and all the sartage of this same forest. By a charter of August 1282, Jean 1st of Brienne, Count of Eu, undoubtedly at the instigation of his viscounts, limited the monks' pannage in the forest of Eu to eight free-range pigs, while maintaining free pasture for all their animals in the forest. It seems that the forest covered, until the year 1000, the whole plateau separating the valleys of Yères and Bresle; large clearances were then undertaken from the 11th century to the 13th century. It was the time of initial fragmentation of the forest by cultivated fields which still divide the current forest of Eu into three massifs. Land clearing slowed in the 14th century with the start of the
Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...
, the invasions of the troops of the King of England put an end to the prosperity of Normandy. This reduction of clearance continued despite the return to peace due to the development of regular logging. The
Counts of Eu This is a list of the counts of Eu, a French county in the Middle Ages. ( Eu is in the department of Seine-Maritime, in the extreme north of Normandy.) House of Normandy * 996–1015: Geoffrey, also Count of Brionne, illegitimate son of Duke ...
, landowners, found it more advantageous to sell the trees to charcoal burners, woodworkers and glassmakers than to cultivate low-paying lands. The exploitation of the forest contributed to the establishment of many glass factories in the surroundings, in particular in the Bresle valley. After belonging to the
Dukes of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy ...
, then to the Counts of Eu, the forest was confiscated during the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
but it was returned to its former owner in 1814:
Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon Louise or Luise may refer to: * Louise (given name) Arts Songs * "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005 * "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984 * "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013 * "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929 *"Louise", by Clan of ...
, widow of
Philippe Égalité Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Coun ...
and mother of
Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...
, future king of France. The forest remained a possession of the Orleans family for a long time. In 1852, the forest became nationalised before being returned, once again, to its former owners, in 1872. It was after this restitution that the 28 cast iron posts were installed across the forest, to mark the intersections of the paths. The best known of them is the ''Pole Maître Jean''. At the beginning of the 20th century, the forest passed into the hands of a civil society founded by friends of the Duke of Orleans to avoid state control. Finally, after the failure of an amicable acquisition by the authorities, the
expropriation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
was decided by the law of August 13, 1913, allocating 90% to the state and 10% to the department of Seine-Inférieur (modern
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-Inféri ...
) on August 15, 1915.


Bibliography

* XI-205 pp., 4 cards * *


References


External links

{{commons category, Forêt d'Eu Forests of France Geography of Normandy Tourist attractions in Normandy Natura 2000 in France