Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon
Encyclopedia
Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon is a commune
in the Seine-Maritime
department in the Haute-Normandie
region in northern France
.
to the north and east, in the Pays de Caux
, situated by the banks of the river Seine
, some 20 miles (32.2 km) east of Le Havre
, at the junction of the D81, D373 and D110 roads.
, a village in Somerset
, a county in the south west of England
.
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 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 small town with a huge industrial area (Port-Jérome) to the southwest with farming and woodlandWoodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
to the north and east, in the Pays de Caux
Pays de Caux
The Pays de Caux is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the French département of Seine Maritime in Haute-Normandie. It is a chalk plateau to the north of the Seine Estuary and extending to the cliffs on the English Channel coast - its coastline is known as the Côte d'Albâtre...
, situated by the banks of the river Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
, some 20 miles (32.2 km) east of Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, at the junction of the D81, D373 and D110 roads.
History
- The parishes of Saint-Georges-de-Gravenchon and Notre Dame were part of the royal domain of LillebonneLillebonneLillebonne is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France. It lies miles north of the Seine and east of Le Havre by railway.-History:...
. The Counts of Évreux built the medieval castle of Fontaine-Saint-Denis. The two parishes were joined as one commune in 1823 under the name of Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon. - Napoleon III opened the new industrial area of Port-Jérôme. A commemorative stone recalls his visit on May 28, 1861. Until then, the commune was an agricultural town.
- In 1930, two oil refineriesOil refineryAn oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
with two separate housing districts were established. "Standard" (for EssoEssoEsso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
employees) and "Vacuum" (for Mobil Oil's workers). - During World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the refineries were partly destroyed (1940) but rebuilt after 1945. Notre Dame de Gravenchon has been occupied by the Germans as from 12 June 1940 and liberated on 31 August 1944 jointly by the British and Belgian armies (Brigade Piron).
Heraldry
Population
| 1962 | 1968 | 1975 | 1982 | 1990 | 1999 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5488 | 6273 | 8335 | 8963 | 8901 | 8618 | 8541 |
| Starting in 1962: Population without duplicates | ||||||
Places of interest
- The church of Notre-Dame, dating from the twelfth century.
- The church of St.Georges, dating from the twentieth century.
- A seventeenth century public washhouse.
- Vestiges of the medieval castleCastleA castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
and 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,...
at La Fontaine-Saint-Denis.
Twinning
Notre Dame de Gravenchon is twinned with StreetStreet, Somerset
Street is a small village and civil parish in the county of Somerset, England. It is situated on a dry spot in the Somerset Levels, at the end of the Polden Hills, south-west of Glastonbury. The 2001 census records the village as having a population of 11,066...
, a village in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, a county in the south west of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.