Cap Blanc-Nez (French pronunciation:[kapblɑ̃ne], literally "Cape White Nose" in English; from DutchBlankenesse, white headland) is acape on theCôte d'Opale, in thePas-de-Calaisdépartement, in northernFrance, culminating at 134 m. The cliffs ofchalk are very similar to thewhite cliffs of Dover on the other side ofthe Channel inEngland. Cap Blanc-Nez does not protrude into the sea like a typical cape but is a high point where achalk ridge has been truncated by the sea, forming acliff that is topped by the obelisk of theDover Patrol Monument, commemorating theDover Patrol which kept the Channel free fromU-boats duringWorld War I.
Cap Blanc-Nez was a vital measuring point for the eighteenth-centurytrigonometric survey linking theParis Observatory with theRoyal Greenwich Observatory. Sightings were made across the English Channel toDover Castle andFairlight Windmill on theSouth Downs. ThisAnglo-French Survey was led in England by GeneralWilliam Roy.
Some miles away to the southwest of Cap Blanc-Nez is theCap Gris-Nez.
50°55′30″N1°42′34″E / 50.92500°N 1.70944°E /50.92500; 1.70944
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