Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue | |
|---|---|
 The harbour at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue | |
Location of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue  | |
  Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue  Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue | |
| Coordinates:49°35′19″N1°15′58″W / 49.5886°N 1.2661°W /49.5886; -1.2661 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Normandy |
| Department | Manche |
| Arrondissement | Cherbourg |
| Canton | Val-de-Saire |
| Intercommunality | CA Cotentin |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Gilbert Doucet[1] |
Area 1 | 6.28 km2 (2.42 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 1,666 |
| • Density | 270/km2 (690/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 50562 /50550 |
| Elevation | 3 m (9.8 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue (French pronunciation:[sɛ̃valauɡ]) is acommune in theManchedepartment inNormandy in north-westernFrance.[3]
It is particularly known for being a major site of fortifications designed bySébastien Le Prestre de Vauban: the watchtowers of Tatihou and La Hougue having been listed in 2008 as part of theFortifications of Vauban UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[4]
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was awarded "2 flowers" by theconcours des villes et villages fleuris contest[5] and the town was elected "favourite French village 2019" in a television programme broadcast onFrance 3 in 2019.
Saint-Vaast is the Norman name of SaintVedast and Hougue is aNorman language word meaning a "mound" or "loaf" and comes from theOld Norse wordhaugr.[6][7]
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is part of thecanton of Val-de-Saire and thearrondissement of Cherbourg.[3] The town had a population of 1,712 in 2019.[8] It is located on the north east coast of theCotentin peninsula and home to a marina. The town is crossed by theSaire.
The island ofTatihou is located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) from the coast, and forms part of the commune. It is usually reached byamphibious craft although, being atidal island, it is also possible to walk there over at low tide. Just like the large trawlers moored at the port, the oyster beds visible at low tide between Tatihou and the coast testify to the predominance of maritime activity in Saint-Vaast, which is the oldestoyster basin in Normandy.[9]
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is one of 303 French municipalities identified as seriously threatened by rising water levels,[10] due toglobal warming.[11]
Excavations, led by Gérard Fosse (1948-2019), revealed human occupation dating from theMousterian period on the site of the Fort of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue.[12] As early as 1832, A. Bigot demonstrated the ancient occupation of Saint-Vaast with the discovery of aflint tool at La Hougue.[13] On the island of Tatihou, traces of ancient bronze was discovered at Clos du Lazaret.[12]
The village, before being called Saint-Vaast, only included a few homes built around a church near to what would later be called Porte-aux-dames.[14]
Around the year 1000,[15] near Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Néel I of Saint-Sauveur, a Norman baron of the House of Saint-Sauveur (fr), repelled anAnglo-Saxon landing led byÆthelred the Unready. The Anglo-Saxon invasion failed thanks to the efforts of Saint-Sauveur who defeated the invaders at the battle of Val-de-Saire.William of Jumièges explains that this landing aimed to captureRichard II, Duke of Normandy.[16] The historian François Neveux expresses some doubts concerning this assertion, noting the distance ofRouen from the battlefield. For him, it was just a pillaging raid in retaliation for Viking expeditions in theAnglo-Saxon kingdom.[17]
The medieval parish,fiefdom ofFécamp Abbey, is under the patronage ofSaint Vaast, who never came to Normandy; it was inFrench Flanders that he exercised his priesthood, as bishop ofArras.[13] It was probably during the construction in the 11th century of the first church, the current Sailors' Chapel, that the monks of Fécamp Abbey chose Saint Vaast as their patron.[13] For Éric Barré, the dedication of the church of La Hougue to Saint Vaast, and by extension the name of the parish, would be the result of the meeting of the fishermen of the place with the fishermen ofArtois andPicardy in theBaie de Seine.[18] According to local tradition, the region was evangelized by Vaast d'Arras, bishop of Arras andSaint Vigor, bishop of Bayeux in the 6th century. While they were going towards what would becomeQuettehou, the bishops had to cross La Bonde on a wooden plank which gave way to the passage of Saint Vaast. La Bonde still serves as a boundary between the two parishes.[18][13]
In 1296, during theGascon War, Saint-Vaast provided 12 warships.[19]
In 1340, during theBattle of Sluys, many of La Hougue'scarracks were sunk: theSaint-Jehan, theSaint-Jame, theNostre-Dame, theSaint-Esperit, theJehannète, thePélerine, theMignolète, and theSainte-Marie.[14]
As part of theHundred Years' War,Edward III of England in 1346 launched a series of raids throughout northern France known as theCrécy campaign. Edward requisitioned the largest fleet assembled by the English to that date,[20] 747 ships,[21] and on 11 July set sail from theIsle of Wight, making landfall at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, on 12 July.[20][22][23][24] On 9 July five hundred guards, probablyGenoese archers hired by the king of France, had spent ten weeks guarding the outskirts of Saint-Vaast, but having not received their pay had all left.[25]
In June 1356, it was also at La Hougue thatHenry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster landed beforeattacking Normandy[25] and in 1357, an English garrison commanded by Robert de Ewes also settled in La Hougue.[13]
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The navalBattle of La Hougue took place off the town in 1692. On 3 June 1692 during a heated battle with the Anglo-Dutch fleet, twelve French ships were sunk in the vicinity of the island ofTatihou, just off the coast of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue. It was the decisive naval battle of theNine Years' War, also known as theWar of the English Succession.
Following the French defeat, two fortified towers were built from 1694 onwards on the mound at La Hougue and Tatihou Island by a student ofVauban, Benjamin de Combes, in order to defend the bay. The towers were inscribed on theUNESCOWorld Heritage List in 2008 as part of theFortifications of Vauban site for their testimony to Vauban's work and its importance in the development of military architecture from the 17th through the 19th centuries.[26]
A French frigate squadron anchored at Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was attacked by a British squadron at theaction of 15 November 1810, which ultimately led to the destruction of the French ship French frigateElisa.
Fortification work continued until the 19th century, when the port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was developed by the civil engineer Charles-Félix Morice de la Rue (1800-1880).[27] The large pier was built from 1828 to 1845 then the quays from 1846 to 1852.[28] Breakwaters were then added to delimit the port. Before this period, Saint-Vaast only had a natural beaching port to the west of Pointe de la Hougue, which was still used in the 19th century.[13]
Shortly after theNormandy landings with theAllied troops rapidly advancing the Germans left Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue on 18 June 1944 by setting fire to the barracks of Tatihou Island and destroyed the lines of thePTT telephone exchange.[13] On 21 June 1944, the port of Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was the first Channel port liberated by the Allies and for the next 100 days the port would experience very high traffic; the nearby port ofCherbourg having not been liberated until 28 June, but took over a month to become serviceable due to German damage.[13]
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue was a very active whaling center, as there was a dense population of the then commongray whale (which is now extinct in the Atlantic).[29] The now rareright whale was likely also taken. The first of what may prove to be many more gray whales found its way through the now ice-freeNorthwest Passage in 2010[30] so perhaps they will eventually breed off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue once more.
Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue organizes a regular Book Festival, "Ancres & Encres".Jean Raspail andJean-Pierre Thiollet may be mentioned among the authors invited in the last ten years.[31]Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is also featured in the backdrop of the video game, Hearts of Iron IV, on a map background behind Bernard L. Montgomery and Erwin Rommel in the Steam main menu of the game.
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