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Wimereux |
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Wimereux
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Location within Nord-Pas-de-Calais region
Wimereux
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Nord-Pas-de-Calais |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Boulogne-sur-Mer |
| Canton | Boulogne-sur-Mer-Nord-Ouest |
| Intercommunality | Communauté d'agglomération du Boulonnais |
| Mayor | Francis Ruelle (2008–2014) |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 0–71 m (0–233 ft) |
| Land area1 | 7.71 km2 (2.98 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 7,583 (2006) |
| - Density | 984 /km2 (2,550 /sq mi) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62893/ 62930 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Wimereux is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France.
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Wimereux is a coastal town situated some 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Boulogne, at the junction of the D233 and the D940 roads, on the banks of the river Wimereux. The river Slack forms the northern boundary of the commune, the English Channel the western. Farming and tourism are its principal activities.
At the Pointe-aux-Oies, dolmen can still be seen at a Stone Age prehistoric site, the first known settlement of Wimereux.
Vauban built a coastal fort at the mouth of the river Wimereux, the ruins showed at low-tide until the 1940s, when they disappeared completely. Napoleon ordered a port to be built here between 1803 and 1804, taking its name from the river. In 1840, the future Napoleon III, first president (and last monarch) of France, landed at Pointe aux Oies.
The territory of Wimereux originally belonged to the commune of Wimille, from which it separated on May 28, 1899. In the same year, the first radio link between France and England was established at Wimereux in April by Guglielmo Marconi and Édouard Branly.
In the First World War, a Red Cross hospital was set up and run here by Lady Hadfield at her own expense for the treatment of wounded and sick servicemen.[1] In 1916, Solomon J Solomon set up a Royal Engineers establishment, the Special Works Park, in a disused feldspar factory. Here were developed new camouflage techniques and equipment for the British Army.[2]
The seaside development was started during the Second Empire, resulting in a remarkable architectural ensemble of houses and buildings typical of the Belle Epoque, which are still very well maintained to this day. Originally the secondary residence of wealthy families of Lille and Paris, Wimereux has become, in the last twenty years or so, a residential suburb of the town of Boulogne-sur-Mer. Wimereux also attracts Britons, Belgians and Russians who come to buy holiday homes or settle permanently.
Wimereux is twinned with the following cities: