Mers-les-Bains

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Coordinates: 50°04′05″N 1°23′19″E / 50.0680555556, 1.38861111111

Commune of Mers-les-Bains

Location

Administration

Communauté de communes de Gros-Jacques

Mayor

M. Emmanuel Maquet
(2001-2008)

Statistics

Elevation

0 m–99 m
(avg. 10 m)

Land area^¹

5,39 km²

Population^²
(2005)

3477

- Density

645/km²

Miscellaneous

INSEE/Postal code

80533/ 80350

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once.

‘’’ Mers-les-Bains ‘’’ is a commune in the Somme département in the Picardie region of France.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Population
4 Places of interest
5 People linked with the commune
6 Economy and tourism
7 Photographs
8 Sea defences
9 Fauna
10 See also
11 External links
12 Notes

[edit] Geography

The chalk cliffs

View of the town from Treport

Situated on the D1015 road, some 25 miles west of Abbeville, Mers-les-Bains faces the English Channel near the mouth of the river Bresle, on the border between Picardie and Normandy. This ‘bathing station’ has both pebbles and sand (at low tide) on the 1km beach and some high chalk cliffs. With its neighbouring towns Eu and Le Tréport so close by, it appears as one large conglomeration. They are collectively know as the ‘3 old sisters’.
Much of the older part of town developed in the heyday of seaside bathing, during the latter part of the 19th century. As a consequence, the fine villas that were developed in those times are now subject to preservation orders. Any refurbishment must be in the same materials and colours as the original work. No plastic doors or roller shutters are allowed.

[edit] History

Mers-les-Bains’ history doesn’t stretch too far back. There are one or two noble families known to have been seigneurs of places within the commune; The coat-of-arms, carved in stone, of the Mython family of Froideville adorns one of the Mayor’s offices today. The Lucas family of Rompval, the Lattaignant seigneurs of Blengues, and the Torcy family, seigneurs of Mers-les-Bains are all mentioned in archives. Some parts of their coats-of-arms can still be seen today, as part of the official badge of the town, adopted in December 1962.
Once just a small fishing port, the seaside ‘bathing station’ grew partly because of the railway line that ran from Paris to Tréport. Entire families could make the 3 hour journey from Paris to discover the benefits of bathing and breathe the fresh, iodized air. Many would eventually buy land and build sumptious second homes in the town.

The beach huts and the villas

[edit] Population

Population Growth
1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2005
3834	4107	4628	3945	3540	3394	3477
Census count starting from 1962 : Population without double counting

[edit] Places of interest

The characteristic vertical design of the buildings

A Calvary, in stone, of St. Maximin, adorned by 4 gargoyles.
Notre-Dame statue on the cliffs.
The war memorial. A maple leaf commemorates the liberation of the town by the Canadian Chaudière regiment

[edit] People linked with the commune

The esplanade

Eugène Dabit author of the novel (Hôtel du Nord) was born in Mers-les-Bains
Antoine Vollon, artist, (b. Lyon 1833 – d. Paris 1900) lived here for many years with his son, Alexis (1865-1940)
Jules Verne spent holidays here with his family.
Victor Hugo wrote of his summers here.
Pierre Lefort], doctor and surgeon was born here in 1767.
Marie-Josèphe Cotelle-Clère sculptur and artist, left many works to the town, as did the artist
Jules Noël
Fernand Fabre actor from the [1920]s, retired here.
Gustave Eiffel, engineer, spent his holidays here.
François Coppée, writer, worked here
Augustin Chantrel, footballer who played for France in the World Cup of 1938 was born here.
Bernard Lavalette, comedian and singer, spends weekends here with his wife in their classically designed villa.

[edit] Economy and tourism

The Saint-Gobain glass works, considered a world leader in perfume bottle production, is the town’s biggest employer.
The town depends more and more on its reputation as a seaside resort. ^[1] A presitigious award ‘The pavillon bleu d'Europe’ was awarded in 2006). Holiday residences are newly-built or restored each and every year and the town flourishes.

[edit] Photographs

The sand exposed at low tide	High tide at Mers	Sylish balcony	The beach at sunset
The beach in summer	Strolling in the evening	The statue of Notre-Dame

[edit] Sea defences

Mers-les-Bains has suffered from flooding on a regular basis. The army has been often been deployed with sandbags to stem the flow. A more permanent barrier is now being created for the three towns, at a prohjected cost of 13 million €uros. This involves large rocks, transported on barges from Boulogne, being placed at the foot of the cliffs, to create a buffer and so preseve them and prevent further floods.

[edit] Fauna

Both herring gulls and black-headed gulls are found in abundance, along with kestrels, in the air on the lookout for prey. This will include mussels, various crabs, shrimps and prawns.