The Forêt d'Écouves (; eng. Écouves Forest) is a large area of

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the ''plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...

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 of northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Location and topography

The forest is located in the

Orne Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

of France, north of

Alençon Alençon (, , ; nrf, Alençoun) is a commune in Normandy, France, capital of the Orne department. It is situated west of Paris. Alençon belongs to the intercommunality of Alençon (with 52,000 people). History The name of Alençon is firs ...

, between the communes of

Carrouges Carrouges () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. The inhabitants are known as ''Carrougiens'' and ''Carrougiennes''.Sées Sées () is a commune in the Orne department in north-western France. It lies on the river Orne from its source and north-by-northeast of Alençon. Sées station has rail connections to Argentan, Caen and Le Mans. Name The town's name derives ...

in the east. It covers an area of approximately , being east to west and between wide. It is generally between above sea level, although at one point the elevation rises to above sea level, which is the highest point in all of Normandy. The forest comprises part of the

Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park Normandie-Maine Regional Natural Park ( Fr.: ''Parc naturel régional Normandie-Maine'') is a protected area of forest and bocage located in the French regions of Normandy and Pays de la Loire. Geography Spanning the departments of Orne, Ma ...

, founded in 1975, along with the Andaines and Perseigne forests.

Flora and fauna

Approximately hectares of the land covered by the forest is varied planting of broad-leaved (mainly

sessile oak ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

and

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 ...

) and pine (mainly

Scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

) trees. It is well known for its varied wildlife, particularly

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

and birds.

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

were historically a common feature of the forest, the last recorded capture being in 1882. The '' Lothar Storm'' hit the forest on 26 December 1999, with recorded gusts reaching 166 km/h. This devastated 838 hectares, felling 180,000 m³ of woodland (approximately 40% deciduous and 60% coniferous trees). The

Office national des forêts The National Forests Office (french: Office national des forêts), or ONF, is a Government of France agency that manages the state forests, city forests and biological reserves. ONF is based in Paris. The office is responsible for the sustaina ...

authorities implemented a replanting programme shortly afterwards to restore the forest habitat.

The Battle of Le Gatey

A significant skirmish took place in the forest in August 1944 as part of the wider battle of the Falaise Pocket. The 2nd French Armoured Division had landed at

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

in Normandy on 1 August 1944, about two months after the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, and served under

General Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

's Third Army. Following the recapture of Alençon on 12 August 1944, the Division, led by General Leclerc, proceeded north towards Argentan. The armoured column entered the forest by the south in order to tackle the

9th Panzer Division The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Weh ...

, which was hidden in the forest. In Le Gateys, on the only road, a

Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...

was hit by a German anti tank missile, resulting in the death of

Colonel Rémy Gilbert Renault (August 6, 1904 – July 29, 1984), known by the nom de guerre Colonel Rémy, was a notable French secret agent active in World War II, and was known under various pseudonyms such as ''Raymond'', ''Jean-Luc'', ''Morin'', ''Watteau' ...

's eighteen-year-old son, Roger. At La Croix de Medavy, Sherman and Panzers clashed but the French were reinforced by the Putz armoured column which had recently set out from Sées. The following day, on 13 August 1944, the two French armoured columns, named Roumiantzoff and Putz, triumphed. The small Les Gateys National Cemetery contains 19 soldiers from the 2nd French Armoured Division killed during the battle.

Notable sites

*A 16th-century priory dedicated to

St. Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, w ...

*The Château de Carrouges *The Château d'Ô *The Château de Sassy *Two monuments from the Battle of Le Gatey - a small cemetery of nineteen French soldiers of the 2nd Armoured Division and a memorial to Roger Rémy.

The forest in art

The Écouves Forest is particularly present in the work of artists Georges Lacombe (1868–1916) and Charles Maundrell (1860-?1924)

Current use

On the first Sunday of September each year, the forest is host to the ''Trans Écouves''

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

event. This meeting of ''VTT (vélo tout terrain)'' enthusiasts has been part of the all-terrain biking scene since 1990. The event is usually based from

Radon Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through ...

, a small commune in the south-east of the forest.Website of the ''Randonnée VTT La Trans-Écouves''
/ref>

References

External links

Website of the Normandy-Maine Regional Natural ParkImage of Château d'Ô, Flickr.comCharles Maundrell's representation of Château d'Ô in the forestDetail of the Memorial to Roger Rémy, normandie44lamemoire.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foret D'ecouves Ecouves Geography of Orne Tourist attractions in Orne