Caudebec-en-Caux

Caudebec-en-Caux is a town and commune in the Pays de Caux, in the Seine-Maritime "département", in Normandy, France. Population (2001) 2,276.

Geography

Caudebec-en-Caux is located 27 mi. W.N.W. of Rouen, on the right bank of the River Seine. The tidal bore in the estuary of the Seine which is known as the ("mascaret") used to be well seen at this point. The development of the industrial polder towards Harfleur has changed the geometry of the estuary so that mascaret now seems to be a phenomenon of the past.

Since 1977 Caudebec has been served by the Pont de Brotonne, one of three bridges built across the Seine, downstream from Rouen since 1960, to replace the many ferries so making vehicular access between the Pays de Caux and the Autoroute A13 easier.

History

Caudebec is one of numerous places in Normandy having names which are clearly derived from a Scandinavian language. "Caldebec" Abt 1025 (like Caldbeck, "Caldebeck" 1060, Cumberland.) derives from the old Danish "kaldr bekkr": cold stream, cold brook.

ights

The chief architectural interest of the town lies in its church, a building of the 15th and the early 16th centuries. Round its top run balustrades formed of Gothic letters, which read as part of the "Magnificat". Its west portal, the decoration of the spire of the tower, and its stained glass are among the features which make it one of the finest churches of the Rouen diocese.

* In the town are also
**"Maison des Templiers" (The Templars' House) from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The building was saved by a society set up for the purpose and houses a small museum of local archaeology and history. A domestic building of this period is a rarity.
**The former prison from the fourteenth century.
**"Hôtel du Bailli", a town house.
**"Hôtel de ville" (Town Hall) from fround 1800.
**The riverside embankments (Les Quais).
**"Musée de la marine de Seine", on the history of river navigation.
*Just outside the town:
**"Château d'Etelan" a renaissance château overlooking the final loop of the river Seine
**The short length of riverside road between Caudebec and St Wandrille, passes under the "Pont de Brotonne", a high-level cable-stayed bridge.
**"Monument du Latham 47"
**Fontenelle Abbey ("Abbaye de Saint-Wandrille"), in the nearby village of St Wandrille.

Economy

Its industries include tanning and leather-currying, and there is trade in grain. Theport has a small trade in coal, live-stock and farm produce.

Caudebec-en-Caux in fiction

Caudebec-en-Caux (though shortened to 'Caudebec') is mentioned as the site of the death of the character William Bush, in C.S. Forester's novel "Lord Hornblower", part of the popular Horatio Hornblower series set during the Napoleonic Wars. Bush, Hornblower's loyal companion for much of the series, was killed due to an explosion in a minor military operation in the Seine estuary near to the town of Caudebec.

References

*
* [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudebec-en-Caux French Wikipedia]