Asnelles is located at the seaside some 13 km north-east ofBayeux and 10 west ofCourseulles-sur-Mer. Access to the commune is by the D514 road fromSaint-Côme-de-Fresné in the west passing through the town and continuing toVer-sur-Mer in the east. The D65 road fromArromanches toMeuvaines passes through the south of the commune. The D65A links the D514 to the D65. A large part of the commune is residential with the sea shore fully urban but some 50% of the commune is farmland.[3]
The Gronde river passes through the heart of the commune from south to north emptying into theEnglish Channel.[3]
Tradition says thatWilliam the Conqueror, to escape his pursuers and after having taken refuge at the house of Baron Hubert de Ryes, regained his ducal castle by following small sunken pathways including one that now bears the name ofSente au Bâtard (Sente the Bastard). This footpath is difficult in places and it crosses the Gronde, bypassing part of the village, and leads to old farmhouses and old stone houses atCreully.
The nameAsnelles (from theLatinasinellas meaning "little donkeys") appears for the first time in an official document at the end of the 12th century when work began on the early church dedicated to St. Martin. At that time a market fordonkeys stood in the field opposite the church near the public square "planître". The coastline was then a largeswamp which often caused fevers: people would implore the protection ofSaint Honorine in a small chapel built on the ruins of aGallo-RomanVilla which would be located near the modern cemetery.
Until the end of the 17th century there was a small harbour at the mouth of the Gronde called Port Heurtault which had nearly 2,000 boat movements per year of boats involved in coastal shipping orCabotage. The port was silted up by a storm, so that theAmirauté Court or Maritime Court, which was created in 1554 at Asnelles, was transferred toBayeux. During the 18th century, Asnelles was the seat of aCaptainerie (Official residence of the officer of the port) and a coastal militia was responsible for monitoring the sea and reporting the approach of any English ship.
In the middle of the 19th century the village underwent major changes. Under the leadership of the Mayor, Dr. Théodore Labbey, significant work was undertaken including: the draining of marshes, the construction of aLevee, and many large houses - some of which remain today. Asnelles becomesAsnelles-la-Belle-Plage, a name given by many swimmers at the beach which took the appearance of a "smallTrouville", according to the newspapers of the time, with its casino and its up-market hotels. Thebeach resort was served by theChemins de fer du Calvados (Railways of Calvados) from 1899 to 1932. The construction of aPreventorium for children withtuberculosis who had a parent working at theSNCF was imposed on the commune in 1926. Until the eve of theSecond World War it accommodated more than 1,500 boys and girls.
Immediately after the landing the construction of theMulberry harbour atArromanches began of which the eastern part was at Asnelles consisting of thePhoenix caissons which enclosed the port on the eastern side starting from the commune beach.
The spokesman ofGeneral de Gaulle, who was one of the "Voices of France",Maurice Schumann also landed at Asnelles. He now is buried in the nearby cemetery of Calvary. The village recovered slowly from the D-Day operations: many large houses were severely damaged or destroyed: the Levee and the holds suffered greatly and many roads had to be rebuilt. There were however no civilian casualties reported.
Today, economic activity in Asnelles is mainly tourism with many second homes, camping, a leisure park, cottages, and family homes.
Azure, a bark of Gules issuant from dexter, sailed in Argent and sailing on a rough Ocean in base, at sinister chief a mullet of Or radiant towards base.[4]
Asnelles is abeach resort located on theCôte de Nacre. It has a beautiful sandy beach which is adjacent to the Arromanches beach. It also has a land sailing club. Asnelle is located on theCircuit of the landing beaches in Normandy. The commune has created a hiking trail calledLa Sente au Bâtard in honour ofWilliam the Conqueror.
Asnelles has many buildings and structures that are classified as historical monuments as well as other points of interest that are not registered. They are:
Théodore Labbey (1804–1873), Mayor of Asnelles under theFrench Second Empire and author of the first book on the history of the commune:Asnelles, paintings and memories, 1865.
Chigouesnel, magistrate, author of the monumentalNew History of Bayeux, 1867.
Jean Elivaire (1824 atCourseulles to 1862 at Courseulles), architect of some resort villas in the Côte de Nacre, a hotel on the street on the waterfront
Chanterenne (H. de),Analysis of old parish registers - Asnelles-sur-mer, Meuvaines, Henri Delesques, Caen, 1912.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles and its history, photography by Pierre Touraine, Imprimerie La Renaissance du Bessin, Bayeux, 1973.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles-la-Belle-Plage in postcards, Imprimerie Lebrun, Caen, 1979.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles-sur-Mer, preface by Alain Garnavault and Gilbert Rameaux, photography by Pierre Touraine, La Renaissance du Bessin, Bayeux, 1990.(in French)
Ducouret (Bernard),Villas of Arromanches-les-Bains, Asnelles, Tracy-sur-Mer, Ver-sur-Mer, Itineraries of heritage, 1993.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles-la-Belle-Plage and its surroundings, preface by Frédéric Gavard, Éditions Charles Corlet, Condé-sur-Noireau, 1997.(in French)
Le Bessin,Churches of the heart, "Saint-Martin d'Asnelles", A.D.T.L.B., 1997.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),The Church of Saint-Martin of Asnelles, preface by Monseigneur Pierre Pican, Bishop of Bayeux and Lisieux, Éditions Charles Corlet, Condé-sur-Noireau, 1999.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Sea bathing and thermalism in Normandy, Birth of sea bathing at Asnelles, Acts of the 36th congress of Historical and Archaeological societies of Normandy, Annales de Normandie, Caen, 2002.(in French)
Saunders (Tim),Gold beach - Jig, Jig sector and west - June 1944, Leo Cooper, 2002.
Pouchain (Gérard),100 Postcards of Asnelles during theBelle Époque, Éditions Charles Corlet, Condé-sur-Noireau, 2003.(in French)
Hargrove (Charles),Asnelles, 6 June 1944, preface by Admiral Brac de La Perrière, Collection Histoires normandes, Esther Flon Éditions, Lisieux, 2004.(in French)
Benamou (Jean-Pierre),Gold beach, Collection Memory 1944, OREP Éditions, 2004.
Trew (Simon),Gold beach, Sutton publishing, 2004.
Cormier (Antoine) and Vermont (Bertrand),It was then a town by the sea, Les Sablés d'Asnelles, Les Tourelles, 2004.(in French)
Meigh (Harry J),My memories of the campaign in Normandy, June 1944, (s.n.), (s.d.).
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles in the Press (1808–1873), 2005;Asnelles in the Press (1874–1892), 2006;Asnelles in the Press (1893–1901), 2007, La Renaissance du Bessin, Bayeux,Asnelles in the Press (1902–1921), 2008;Asnelles in the Press (1922–1937), 2009;Asnelles in the Press (1938–1957), Diamen, Bayeux.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Asnelles the beautiful beach (1894–1896), photography by Philibert Bonvillain, Diamen, Bayeux, 2008.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),The Marcia C. Day, [Les Tamaris, Les Tourelles, Les Sablés d'Asnelles], Diamen, Bayeux, 2008.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),6 June 1944, Asnelles - Le Hamel, (Les Tamaris, Les Tourelles, Les Sablés d'Asnelles), Diamen, Bayeux, 2010.(in French)
Pouchain (Gérard),Maurice Schumann - Asnelles and Bayeux, places of Liberty and Fidelity (6 June 1944 – 13 February 1998), 2011, Diamen, Bayeux.(in French)
Le Trait d'union (Parish journal), 1932-1937 and 1948-1958.(in French)
La Belle Plage (School journal), 1949-1964.(in French)
Charmouth (United Kingdom) since 1985.
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