Abbeville


Abbeville is a commune in the Somme department and in Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
It is the chef-lieu of one of the arrondissements of Somme. Located on the river Somme, it was the capital of Ponthieu.

Geography

Location

Abbeville is located on the river Somme, from its modern mouth in the English Channel. The majority of the town is located on the east bank of the Somme, as well as on an island. It is located at the head of the Abbeville Canal, and is northwest of Amiens and approximately from Paris. It is also as the crow flies from the and the English Channel. In the medieval period, it was the lowest crossing point on the Somme and it was nearby that Edward III's army crossed shortly before the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
Just halfway between Rouen and Lille, it is the historical capital of the County of Ponthieu and maritime Picardy.

Quarters, hamlets and localities

  • Émonville Park takes its name from one of its owners Arthur Foulc d'Émonville, an amateur botanist, who bought a part of the in order to accommodate a garden and to construct a mansion, which now houses the study and heritage section of the Robert Mallet municipal library. The remains of the priory include the entrance arch, current main entrance of the garden located on Place Clemenceau, as well as some buildings which make up the Saint-Pierre School, including the remarkable Chapel of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul. This place is considered by some to be the origin of Abbeville, because it was the location of the first château of the Counts of Ponthieu, called castrum. It is assumed that this place could have been the location of the farm of Abbatisvilla, dependent upon the Abbey of Saint-Riquier.
  • The suburbs of La Bouvaque and Thuison are located to the north of the city. The municipal park of La Bouvaque, bordered by the Boulevard de la République, consists of the La Bouvaque pond and Collart meadows, former settling ponds of the sugar factory. It was in Thuison that the Carthusian monastery of Saint-Honoré was founded in 1301 by, Bishop of Amiens. This was a property of the Order of the Temple, sold to the latter by Gérard de Villars, the last. The sale was confirmed by Hugues de Pairaud, then.
  • The suburb of Saint Gilles
  • Rouvroy is to the west, and the origin of the name comes from Rouvray indicates the presence of an oak wood or a remarkable oak.
  • Mautort, beside Rouvroy, is a former stronghold located between Cambron and Abbeville. It is at the origin of the noble name of de Mautort, surviving in the name of the Tillette de Mautort family or, for example, of. The name tort is attested in Old French with the sense of détour and Mau. The, emblematic of the quarter, was initially a simple chapel of sailors founded in the 11th century and underwent many changes during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
  • Menchecourt, in the north-west, is known for its sugar factory and for its football club.

    Transport

is served by trains on the line between Boulogne-sur-Mer and Amiens and between Calais and Paris. Abbeville was the southern terminus of the Réseau des Bains de Mer, the line to Dompierre-sur-Authie opened on 19 June 1892 and closed on 10 March 1947.
Abbeville is located just near the A16 autoroute, and is about 1 hour 50 minutes by car from Paris.

Climate

Abbeville has an oceanic climate due to its proximity to the ocean. The summers and winters are temperate and rainy, days of snow are fairly common. There are 26 days of storm per year with a maximum in the months of July and August, the rains are frequent and distributed regularly in the year with precipitation totalling and 128 days with precipitation. The sunshine is average because of its position in the north and the oceanic influence also helps to prevent temperatures from being too high with only three days of intense heat and from being too cold with 6 days of heavy frost. The highest temperature was on 1 July 1952 and the record low is, which occurred during a particularly cold spell on 17 January 1985.

Demography

Its inhabitants are called Abbevillois in French.

Demographic evolution

Age structure

The population of the commune is relatively old.

Economy

Abbeville is the seat of the. It manages ports, the aerodrome and industrial areas of the arrondissement of Abbeville.
Abbeville manufactured textiles, and in particular, linens and tablecloths when the Van Robais family created la Manufacture Royale des Rames in 1665; however after the Edict of Nantes was revoked and the subsequent migration of Protestants away from the area, the cloth business succumbed. Also affecting the economy of the town was the closure of the river port on the Somme River due to excessive silt. It also has cordage factories, carpet factories, and spinning mills. Finally, it also fabricates locks, has breweries, and produces food and, until 2007, sugar,

Culture, festivals, sport and leisure

Culture

  • The, built in 1911, registered as a historic monument in 2003
  • The Municipal Conservatory of the Abbevillois
  • The Robert Mallet municipal library: It preserves a Heritage fonds including being based on collections from the ancient monastic establishments in the vicinity, with 972 manuscripts. Among these, is a Carolingian Gospel book running to 790–800 at the Court of Charlemagne.
  • The, a certified Museum of France
  • The

    Festivals

Floral town

Abbeville was awarded three flowers in 2007 by the Conseil des Villes et Villages Fleuris de France in the.

Sport

  • Association Futsal Abbevilloise
  • Rowing club, Sport Nautique Abbevillois, Centre nautique Jean-Raymond-Peltier
  • Rugby union club, XV of Abbeville, at stage Imanol Harinordoquy
  • Cycling club, the Étoile Cycliste Abbevilloise
  • Handball club, the EAL Handball
  • Table tennis club, currently in Nationale 1
  • Flying school of aeroplanes and gliders, and ULM school, located on the edge of Abbeville and Buigny-Saint-Maclou
  • Football, Sporting Club Abbeville Côte Picarde, a team of one of the
  • Field hockey, women's team playing in Nationale 1
  • Judo Club Abbevillois
  • Grand-Laviers golf course, north-west of the city,
  • Skatepark of Abbeville
  • Boxing Club – Bobo-Lorcy and Benjamin-Leberton rooms
  • Automotive Stadium of Abbeville
  • Fencing club, Abbevilloise Fencing Association
  • Sporting club of swimming
Abbeville has featured as the departure point for Stage 4 of the 2012 Tour de France and the departure point for Stage 1 of the 2011 Tour de Picardie. The commune has also been on the route of the Grand Prix de la Somme one-day cycle race. Abbeville will feature as the departure point for Stage 6 of the 2015 Tour de France, on 9 July.

Games

  • Chess club, Exchequer of Picardy Maritime.
  • Poker club,, a club which has finished first at France's Team Poker Championships.

    In literature

, in his Dictionnaire philosophique, wrote an article Torture, in which he set out an account of the martyrdom of the Chevalier de La Barre:
Victor Hugo evoked the trips he made to Abbeville in his accounts of travel.
The Collegiate Church of Saint-Vulfran is portrayed in the short story "Casting the Runes," by M. R. James, as the site of a mysterious death.
André Maurois, in Les Silences du Colonel Bramble amusingly described the intact commercial spirit of the inhabitants of Abbeville in the last months of the war. Maurois' Ni ange ni bete is also set in Abbeville.
, in his novel Déluges, Éditions Henry, November 2004, evokes the bombing of 1940 and the floods of the Somme of 2001.

Toponymy

The Romans occupied it and named it Abbatis Villa.
The name of the city is attested in various forms over the centuries: Brittania, Abacivo villa, Bacivum palatium, Cloie and Cloye, Abacivum villa, Basiu, Haymonis villa, Abbatis villa, Abbevilla, Abbavilla, Abedvilla, Abatis villa, Abbasvilla, Abbisvilla, Abbevile in 1209, Abbevilla in ponticio in 1213, Abisvil, Abeville in 1255, Abbeville in 1266, Abbisville, Abbeville en Pontiu, Albeville, Aubeville in 1358, Albeville in 1347, Aubbeville, Aubeville, Abevile, Abbativilla and, finally, Abbeville, meaning the "Villa of the Abbé" because it once depended on the Abbey of Saint-Riquier.
There are also Hableville in 1607 and Ableville in 1643, with transitional addition of an L.
Abbekerke and Abbegem in Flemish.

Heraldry

Abbeville boasted of having never been taken and was called Abbeville la pucelle. It was also granted many privileges from the Capetian kings, to reward its loyalty.

Sobriquet

The blason populaire of the people of Abbeville is "chés bourgeois d'Adville".

Politics and administration

Abbeville was the capital of the former province of Ponthieu. Today, it is one of the three sub-prefectures of the Somme department.

Political trends and results

'''Presidential Elections Second Round:'''

Intercommunality

The commune is part of the Communauté d'agglomération de la Baie de Somme of which it has the headquarters.

History

Prehistory

Palaeolithic

The subsoil contains many vestiges of the Pleistocene. This discovery was a founding element of prehistory as a science.
The name Abbeville has been adopted to name a category of Paleolithic stone tools. These stone tools are also known as handaxes. Various handaxes were found near Abbeville by Jacques Boucher de Perthes starting in 1838 and he was the first to describe the stones in detail, pointing out in the first publication of its kind, in 1846, that the stones were chipped deliberately by early man, so as to form a tool. These stone tools which are some of the earliest found in Europe, were chipped on both sides so as to form a sharp edge, were known as Abbevillian handaxes or bifaces, but recently the term 'Abbevillian' is becoming obsolete as the earlier form of stone tool, not found in Europe, is known as the Oldowan chopper. Some of these artifacts are displayed at the Musee Boucher-de-Perthes.
A more refined and later version of handaxe production was found in the Abbeville/Somme River district. The more refined handaxe became known as the Acheulean industry, named after Saint-Acheul, today a suburb of Amiens.
It retained some importance into the Bronze Age.