Saint-Valery-en-Caux (, literally ''Saint-Valery in Caux'') 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

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 ...

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 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 ...

. The addition of an

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accent in the Latin and Greek alphabets, precomposed ch ...

on the "e" (Valéry) is incorrect.

Geography

The town is located north of

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

. A small

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

port and

light industrial Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for e ...

town situated in the

Pays de Caux The Pays de Caux (, , literally ''Land of Caux'') is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French ''département'' of Seine Maritime in Normandy. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs ...

, some west of

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads. Here, huge

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 ...

cliffs rise up from the pebble beach (sandy at low tide) to overlook 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 ...

. The SNCF station closed in the 1990s and the only public transport available is an infrequent bus service. 0 Saint-Valery-en-Caux - Maison dite de Henri IV

0 Saint-Valery-en-Caux - Maison dite de Henri IV

Affiche-Chemin-de-Fer-Saint-Valery-en-Caux-1892

History

It is said to have been founded by

Saint Valery Saint Walaric, modern French Valery (died 620), was a Frankish monk turned hermit who founded the . His cult was recognized in Normandy and England. Life Walaric was born in the Auvergne to a peasant family. Taught to read at a young age, he a ...

in the 7th century. A monastery was built on the site of the present-day town and was known as ‘’’Sanctum Walaricum’’’ in 990 CE, according to the charter in which

Richard I, Duke of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln, Europäische S ...

, gave the town (part of his personal property) to the abbey of Fecamp. A busy fishing port from the 13th to the 17th century, its decline was due to the growth of the much larger port of Fecamp, to the west. It is perhaps best known as the place where the British

51st (Highland) Infantry Division The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as ...

commanded by

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Victor Fortune Major General Sir Victor Morven Fortune (21 August 1883 – 2 January 1949) was a senior officer of the British Army. He saw service in both World War I and World War II. He commanded the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division during the Battle o ...

and French troops surrendered to Major-General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

on 12 June 1940, with the town partly destroyed in the fighting. Saint-Valéry-en-Caux was liberated on 11 September 1944 by a re-formed 51st Highland division, among scenes of great local jubilation. On 17 January 1945, the railway station was destroyed when a runaway train full of American troops crashed into it. 89 American soldiers were killed and 152 were injured.Russell C. Eustice Recalls the Troop Train 2980 Tragedy at St. Valery-en-Caux During World War II
/ref>
The town has a

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

, a

waterpark A water park (or waterpark, water world) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming, and other baref ...

and has achieved the highest rating of four flowers in the annual France in Bloom competition.

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

now accounts for much of the town's prosperity.

Heraldry

Population

Places of interest

* The church of St. Valery, dating from the fifteenth century. *A

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

-style half-timber house . * The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

cemetery. * A seventeenth-century

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

from the old

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

. * The

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

. * The memorial to the 51st Highland Division, on the cliff tops.

People

* French artist Adrien Victor Auger (1787–1854), was born here in October 1787. * Orientalist

Charles Defrémery Charles Defrémery (8 December 1822 – 18 August 1883) was a 19th-century French orientalist, specialist in Arabic and Persian history and literature. He held the chair of Arabic language and literature at the École des langues orientales and ...

(1822–1883) died in Saint-Valery-en-Caux. * Chelsea Football Club footballer

Demba Ba Demba Ba (born 25 May 1985) is a former professional footballer. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side ASC San Diego. He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 before moving to Mouscron an ...

grew up here.

Twin towns

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Sontheim Sontheim (full name: Sontheim an der Brenz) is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is located northeast of Ulm, at the southern end of the Swabian Jura. Neighboring municipalities Sonthe ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...