Criel-sur-Mer
Encyclopedia
Criel-sur-Mer is a commune
in the Seine-Maritime
department in the Haute-Normandie
region
in northern France
.
and light industry
situated in the valley and at the mouth of the river Yères
, some 12 miles (19.3 km) northeast of Dieppe
. The commune is served by the D16, D940 and the D925 roads. As with much of this coastline, huge chalk
cliffs look out over the English Channel
. At Criel, they rise to 107m, the highest in Europe.
In the 19th century, an amateur archeologist, Father Cochet, found traces of a Gallo-Roman site.
It was the chef-lieu
of a canton during the French Revolution
.
Criel remained essentially a village of fishermen and farmers until the arrival of the railway in 1872. The existence of the railway station helped establish two elegant seaside resorts here, one near the mouth of the Yères
and the other at the suburb of Mesnil-Val. This was the golden age of the Normandy beach resort, that served as the prototype for Trouville
, Cabourg
and Deauville
. In 1902, Criel took the name of Criel-sur-Mer.
The casino was lost in a storm in 1914 and the railway station didn’t survive the First World War.
Tourism really took off with the advent of paid leave in 1936. Alongside Le Tréport
, Criel was the nearest beach to Paris, easily accessible in the 1950s.
Between 1950 and 1972, an industry developed exploiting the pebbles from the beach, for use either in the pharmaceutical industry or crushed for roads.
In 2005, an English residential activity company named Kingswood began using Chateau de Chantereine as a base for its study tours. Since then, hundreds of children each year visit the chateau and its surrounding towns such as Dieppe, Eu and Le Treport as part of their studies. Many local schools have formed partnerships with UK schools with the support of Kingswood.
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 Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime is a French department in the Haute-Normandie region in 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...
department in the Haute-Normandie
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...
region
Régions of France
France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...
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
A town of farming, tourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and light industry
Light industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
situated in the valley and at the mouth of the river Yères
Yères
The Yères is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the department of Seine-Maritime- Geography :The river’s source is in the forest of Eu, just south of the village of Aubermesnil-aux-Érables. Its course takes a northerly route past Foucarmont and Fallencourt...
, some 12 miles (19.3 km) northeast of Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
. The commune is served by the D16, D940 and the D925 roads. As with much of this coastline, huge chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
cliffs look out over 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...
. At Criel, they rise to 107m, the highest in Europe.
History
Criel gets its first mention in 1059, as “Criolium”. First cited in 1326, the port was still operating in 1584, but has since closed.In the 19th century, an amateur archeologist, Father Cochet, found traces of a Gallo-Roman site.
It was the chef-lieu
Chef-lieu
A chef-lieu is a town or city that is pre-eminent, from an administrative perspective, in any given sub-division of territory in France and some French-speaking countries.-In Algeria:...
of a canton during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
Criel remained essentially a village of fishermen and farmers until the arrival of the railway in 1872. The existence of the railway station helped establish two elegant seaside resorts here, one near the mouth of the Yères
Yères
The Yères is a river of Normandy, France, in length, flowing through the department of Seine-Maritime- Geography :The river’s source is in the forest of Eu, just south of the village of Aubermesnil-aux-Érables. Its course takes a northerly route past Foucarmont and Fallencourt...
and the other at the suburb of Mesnil-Val. This was the golden age of the Normandy beach resort, that served as the prototype for Trouville
Trouville
Trouville is the name or part of the name of several communes of Normandy, France:* Trouville, in the Seine-Maritime department* Trouville-sur-Mer, in the Calvados department, arguably the most famous of these communes, and commonly referred to as Trouville* Trouville-la-Haule, in the Eure department...
, Cabourg
Cabourg
Cabourg is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.Cabourg belongs to the Paris Basin. The commune is located next to the sea and the back country is a plain, favourable to the cereal culture...
and Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
. In 1902, Criel took the name of Criel-sur-Mer.
The casino was lost in a storm in 1914 and the railway station didn’t survive the First World War.
Tourism really took off with the advent of paid leave in 1936. Alongside 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...
, Criel was the nearest beach to Paris, easily accessible in the 1950s.
Between 1950 and 1972, an industry developed exploiting the pebbles from the beach, for use either in the pharmaceutical industry or crushed for roads.
In 2005, an English residential activity company named Kingswood began using Chateau de Chantereine as a base for its study tours. Since then, hundreds of children each year visit the chateau and its surrounding towns such as Dieppe, Eu and Le Treport as part of their studies. Many local schools have formed partnerships with UK schools with the support of Kingswood.
Heraldry
Population
Places of interest
- The manorhouse de Briançon, where the Grande Mademoiselle created a girls’ school in 1695. It now houses the mairie.
- The church of St.Aubin, dating from the fifteenth century.
- The châteauChâteauA château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
de Chantereine. - Some vestiges of the château du Baile.
- The ruins of the church of St.Leonard.
- A seventeenth century chapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
.