Varengeville-sur-Mer
Encyclopedia
Varengeville-sur-Mer is a commune
in the Seine-Maritime
department in the Haute-Normandie
region in northern France
.
and farming commune situated by the coast of the English Channel
and in the Pays de Caux
, some 5 miles (8 km) west of Dieppe
at the junction of the D27, D75 and the D123 roads. The commune has access to the pebble beach by means of a gap in the huge chalk
cliffs.
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 forestryForestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
and farming commune situated by the coast of the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and 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...
, some 5 miles (8 km) west of Dieppe
Dieppe, Seine-Maritime
Dieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
at the junction of the D27, D75 and the D123 roads. The commune has access to the pebble beach by means of a gap in the huge chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
cliffs.
Heraldry
Population
Places of interest
- The manorhouse known as the Manoir d'Ango, built between 1530-1545 by Jean AngoJean AngoJean Ango was a French ship-owner who provided ships to Francis I for exploration of the globe. A native of Dieppe, Ango took over his father's import-export business, and ventured into the spice trade with Africa and India...
, - The church of St. Valery, dating from the thirteenth century, sits atop the cliffs and is at risk of falling into the sea if the cliff were to collapse in any way. The churchyard holds the tomb of the CubistCubismCubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
artist Georges BraqueGeorges BraqueGeorges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
, topped by a mosaic of a white dove. Inside the church is a stained glassStained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window by Braque depicting the Tree of JesseTree of JesseThe Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the Ancestors of Christ, shown in a tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David; the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy...
. - The chapel of St. Dominique, on the road from Varengeville to DieppeDieppe, Seine-MaritimeDieppe is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in France. In 1999, the population of the whole Dieppe urban area was 81,419.A port on the English Channel, famous for its scallops, and with a regular ferry service from the Gare Maritime to Newhaven in England, Dieppe also has a popular pebbled...
, with more stained glass windows by Braque. - Two chateaus, at Saint-Aubin and Quesnot.
- The sixteenth century hunting lodge of King Francis IFrancis I of FranceFrancis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
. - The cemeteryCemeteryA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
, by the sea, with a sixteenth-century sandstone cross and containing the tombs of some famous Frenchmen: Porto-Riche, Albert Roussel, Georges Braque and Paul Nelson. - The Bois des Moutiers which is a 12-hectare park conceived by Guillaume Mallet in 1898, containing a house designed by the architect Sir Edwin LutyensEdwin LutyensSir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...
and gardens designed by Miss Gertrude JekyllGertrude JekyllGertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...
. The park contains 'Shamrock', the biggest collection of hortensias in the world, with more than 1000 varieties. This collection has been assembled by the ‘Conservatoire français des collections végétales spécialisées’ (CCVS). The park is open to visitors. - The ‘Maison du Bois des Moutiers’, near the church, was built for Guillaume Mallet from 1898. It was one of Lutyens' first commissions. A Burne-Jones tapestry hangs in the stairwell, its designs copied from Renaissance cloth in William MorrisWilliam MorrisWilliam Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
's studio. The house is open to visitors.
People
- Georges BraqueGeorges BraqueGeorges Braque[p] was a major 20th century French painter and sculptor who, along with Pablo Picasso, developed the art style known as Cubism.-Early Life:...
(1883–1963), artist, is buried in the cemetery. - Albert RousselAlbert RousselAlbert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period...
(1869–1937), composer, is buried in the cemetery. - Georges de Porto-RicheGeorges de Porto-RicheGeorges de Porto-Riche was a French dramatist and novelist.At the age of twenty, his pieces in verse began to be produced at the Parisian theatres; he also wrote some books of verse which met with a favorable reception, but these early works were not reprinted...
(1849–1930), writer, is buried in the cemetery. - Jean-Francis Auburtin (1866–1930), artist, died here.
- Paul Nelson (1895–1979), architect, is buried in the cemetery
- Jean AngoJean AngoJean Ango was a French ship-owner who provided ships to Francis I for exploration of the globe. A native of Dieppe, Ango took over his father's import-export business, and ventured into the spice trade with Africa and India...
, (1480–1551), shipping magnate and navigator, lived here. - Claude MonetClaude MonetClaude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
(1840–1926), who spent some time painting in Varengeville.