Mers-les-Bains
Encyclopedia
Mers-les-Bains is a commune
in the Somme
department in Picardie
in northern France
.
.jpg)
The commune is situated on the D1015 road, some 25 miles (40 km) west of Abbeville
, Mers-les-Bains faces the English Channel
near the mouth of the river Bresle
, on the border between Picardie and Normandy
. This ‘bathing station’ has both pebbles and sand (at low tide) on the 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi)beach and some high chalk cliffs. With its neighbouring towns Eu and Le Tréport
so close by, it appears as one large conglomeration. They are collectively known as the 'three sister-towns' (les trois villes soeurs)."
Much of the older part of town developed in the heyday of seaside bathing, during the latter part of the 19th century. As a consequence, the fine villas that were developed in those times are now subject to preservation orders. Any refurbishment must be in the same materials and colours as the original work. No plastic doors or roller shutter
s are allowed.
of places within the commune; The coat-of-arms, carved in stone, of the Mython family of Froideville adorns one of the Mayor’s offices today. The Lucas family of Rompval, the Lattaignant seigneurs of Blengues, and the Torcy family, seigneurs of Mers-les-Bains are all mentioned in archives. Some parts of their coat-of-arms can still be seen today, as part of the official badge of the town, adopted in December 1962.
Once just a small fishing port, the seaside ‘bathing station’ grew partly because of the railway line that ran from Paris to Tréport. Entire families could make the 3 hour journey from Paris to discover the benefits of bathing and breathe the fresh, iodized air. Many would eventually buy land and build sumptious second homes in the town.
.jpg)
.jpg)
glass works, considered a world leader in perfume bottle production, is the town’s biggest employer.
The town depends more and more on its reputation as a seaside resort. A prestigious award ‘The pavillon bleu d'Europe’ was awarded in 2006). Holiday residences are newly-built or restored each and every year and the town flourishes.
, being placed at the feet of the cliffs, to create a buffer and so preserve them and prevent further floods.
s, in the air on the lookout for prey. This will include mussel
s, various crab
s, shrimp
s and prawn
s.
Communes of France
The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...
in the Somme
Somme
Somme is a department of France, located in the north of the country and named after the Somme river. It is part of the Picardy region of France....
department in Picardie
Picardie
Picardy is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the northern part of France.-History:The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the Aisne department...
in northern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Geography
Abbeville
Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Location:Abbeville is located on the Somme River, from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and northwest of Amiens...
, Mers-les-Bains faces the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
near the mouth of the river Bresle
Bresle
Bresle is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.-Geography:Bresle is situated on the D226 road, some northwest of Amiens.-Population:-External links:*...
, on the border between Picardie and Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. This ‘bathing station’ has both pebbles and sand (at low tide) on the 1 kilometre (0.621372736649807 mi)beach and some high chalk cliffs. With its neighbouring towns Eu and Le Tréport
Le Tréport
Le Tréport is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Dieppe at the junction of the D940, the D78 and the D1015 roads...
so close by, it appears as one large conglomeration. They are collectively known as the 'three sister-towns' (les trois villes soeurs)."
Much of the older part of town developed in the heyday of seaside bathing, during the latter part of the 19th century. As a consequence, the fine villas that were developed in those times are now subject to preservation orders. Any refurbishment must be in the same materials and colours as the original work. No plastic doors or roller shutter
Roller shutter
A roller shutter, roller door or sectional overhead door is a type of door or window shutter consisting of many horizontal slats hinged together. The door is raised to open it and lowered to close it. On large doors, the action may be motorized. It provides protection against wind and rain...
s are allowed.
History
Mers-les-Bains’ history doesn’t stretch too far back. There are one or two noble families known to have been seigneursLord
Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...
of places within the commune; The coat-of-arms, carved in stone, of the Mython family of Froideville adorns one of the Mayor’s offices today. The Lucas family of Rompval, the Lattaignant seigneurs of Blengues, and the Torcy family, seigneurs of Mers-les-Bains are all mentioned in archives. Some parts of their coat-of-arms can still be seen today, as part of the official badge of the town, adopted in December 1962.
Once just a small fishing port, the seaside ‘bathing station’ grew partly because of the railway line that ran from Paris to Tréport. Entire families could make the 3 hour journey from Paris to discover the benefits of bathing and breathe the fresh, iodized air. Many would eventually buy land and build sumptious second homes in the town.
Population
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3834 | 4107 | 4628 | 3945 | 3540 | 3394 | 3477 | 3530 |
| Starting in 1962: Population without duplicates | |||||||
Places of interest
- A Calvary, in stone, of St. Maximin, adorned by 4 gargoyles.
- Notre-Dame statue on the cliffs.
- The war memorial. A mapleMapleAcer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...
leaf commemorates the liberation of the town by the Canadian Chaudière regiment
Personalities
- Eugène DabitEugène DabitEugene Dabit was a French socialist writer.He was part of the group "proletarian literature" and had a great success for his short story collection Hôtel du Nord which won the du Prix du roman populiste and was filmed in 1938 by Marcel Carné...
author of the novel (Hôtel du Nord) was born in Mers-les-Bains - Antoine Vollon, artist, (b. Lyon 1833 – d. Paris 1900) lived here for many years with his son, Alexis (1865–1940)
- Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
spent holidays here with his family. - Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
wrote of his summers here. - Pierre Lefort, doctor and surgeon was born here in 1767.
- Marie-Josèphe Cotelle-Clère sculptor and artist, left many works to the town, as did the artist
- Jules Noël
- Fernand Fabre, actor from the 1920s, retired here.
- Gustave EiffelGustave EiffelAlexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
, engineer, spent his holidays here. - François CoppéeFrançois CoppéeFrançois Edouard Joachim Coppée was a French poet and novelist.-Biography:He was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war, and won public favour as a poet of the Parnassian school. His first printed verses date from 1864...
, writer, worked here - Augustin ChantrelAugustin ChantrelAugustin Chantrel was a French former football halfback. He played for several local clubs and became a member of the French national team, whom he represented at the 1928 Olympic Games and at the 1930 World Cup.During his youth, Chantrel played for the Paris Université Club , until Paris team...
, footballer who played for France in the World CupFIFA World CupThe FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
of 1938 was born here. - Bernard Lavalette, comedian and singer, spends weekends here with his wife in their classically designed villa.
Economy and tourism
The Saint-GobainSaint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain S.A. is a French multinational corporation, founded in 1665 in Paris and headquartered on the outskirts of Paris at La Défense and in Courbevoie. Originally a mirror manufacturer, it now also produces a variety of construction and high-performance materials.The company has its head...
glass works, considered a world leader in perfume bottle production, is the town’s biggest employer.
The town depends more and more on its reputation as a seaside resort. A prestigious award ‘The pavillon bleu d'Europe’ was awarded in 2006). Holiday residences are newly-built or restored each and every year and the town flourishes.
Sea defences
Mers-les-Bains has suffered from flooding on a regular basis. The army has been often been deployed with sandbags to stem the flow. A more permanent barrier is now being created for the three towns, at a projected cost of 13 million euros. This involves large rocks, transported on barges from BoulogneBoulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
, being placed at the feet of the cliffs, to create a buffer and so preserve them and prevent further floods.
Fauna
Both herring gulls and black-headed gulls are found in abundance, along with kestrelKestrel
The name kestrel, is given to several different members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects...
s, in the air on the lookout for prey. This will include mussel
Mussel
The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s, various crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, shrimp
Shrimp
Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
s and prawn
Prawn
Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...
s.