Saint-Valery-en-Caux (, literally ''Saint-Valery in Caux'') is a commune 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-Inf� ...

department in the

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

region in northern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The addition of an

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

on the "e" (Valéry) is incorrect.

Geography

The town is located north of

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

. A small

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

port and

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

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 cl ...

, some west of

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

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. Ch ...

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

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

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

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

History

The town is said to have been founded by Saint Valery 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

Fécamp Fécamp () is a commune in the northwestern French department of Seine-Maritime. Geography Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around northeast of Le Havre, ...

. A busy fishing port from the 13th to the 17th century, its subsequent decline was due to the growth of the much larger port of Fécamp, 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

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 ...

and French troops surrendered to Major-General

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel (; 15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944), popularly known as The Desert Fox (, ), was a German '' Generalfeldmarschall'' (field marshal) during World War II. He served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of ...

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 gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

and a

waterpark A water park (also waterpark, water world, or aquapark) 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, swimmin ...

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

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

now accounts for much of the town's economy.

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 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

-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 , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

from the old

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term 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 lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

* 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 (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 who played as a striker. He serves as the chairman of National Independent Soccer Association side Albion San Diego. He made his first-team debut with French team Rouen in 2005 b ...

grew up here.

Twin towns

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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 Sonthei ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

References

External links

Official website of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux

Unofficial Website of the commune

* ttp://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2008002 The CWGC cemetery
History of the shipowner's house 'Henry IV house' including surprising links with Cannibals and South America!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saintvaleryencaux Communes of Seine-Maritime Seaside resorts in France