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29-557: Picquigny is situated at the junction of the N235, the D141 and D3 roads, on the banks of the river Somme , some 8 miles (13 km) northwest (and downstream) of Amiens . Picquigny station has rail connections to Amiens and Abbeville. Already established as a Gallic settlement before the Romans arrived, a Gallo-Roman cemetery was discovered in 1895 in the area known as Les Vignes . Known through

58-516: A hospital, schools: kindergartens, primary and middle school, as well as the Baie de Somme study station of the University of Picardie Jules-Verne (UPJV). Saint-Valery-sur-Somme is a marina and a fishing port. Fishing is an activity in decline due to the increasing silting up of the bay. The silting forces fishermen to go offshore and leave the bay, which shortens the length of the fishing day. Navigation in

87-453: A million casualties. Private A. S. Bullock in his wartime memoir recalled his first sight of it in early April 1918: "... we reached a small place called Hengest sur Somme . The train stopped and we descended. There in front of us was a muddy, sluggish and somewhat narrow stream, which has given its name to one of the most awful battles in history – the Somme." The great battles that finally stopped

116-406: A peace treaty. They met on a small island in the Somme, having both left their armies behind. After the meeting, William left but was then assassinated by Arnulf's supporters. As early as the 14th century, the town had commune status and a county judge. In 1307, several Templars were arrested and imprisoned in the dungeons of the château by order of Philip IV of France , On 29 August 1475, with

145-508: A source of conflict during the French Revolution . The commune was popular during the 19th century with artists and writers and Victor Hugo , Jules Verne , Alfred Sisley and Edgar Degas all had villas here at one time or another. The traditional fishing sector still exists although in very marked decline. Commerce, crafts, banking, hotels, restaurants, and other tourist services dominate today's Valerician economy. The town has

174-407: A station (and out-of-season terminus) of the narrow gauge " Chemin de Fer de la Baie de Somme " (Somme Bay Railway), which is now largely a tourist attraction. Running around the entire length of the bay, this railway connects Le Crotoy with Noyelles-sur-Mer , and Saint-Valery; in the summer season trains also run from Saint-Valery to Cayeux-sur-Mer and the sands at Brighton Plage. The history of

203-671: Is a river in Picardy , northern France . The river is 245 km (152 mi) in length, from its source in the high ground of the former Arrouaise Forest  [ fr ] at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin , to the Bay of the Somme , in the English Channel . It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent . This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified. The Somme river

232-536: The Canal de la Somme began in 1770 and reached completion in 1843. It is 156 km (97 mi) long, beginning at St.Simon and opening into the Bay of the Somme. From St.Simon to Froissy (near Bray sur Somme, south of Albert), the canal is alongside the river. Thence to the sea, the river is partly river and partly navigation. From Abbeville , it is diverted through the silted , former estuary , to Saint-Valery-sur-Somme , where

261-515: The English the village passed between French, English and Burgundian ownership. The English destroyed the abbey and cloister in order to strengthen the nearby St Valery castle. In 1431, Joan of Arc , captive of the English , was held prisoner in the local prison, whence she was then conveyed to Rouen and burnt at the stake. The cell in which she was held can still be found near part of the old village walls. The commune found peace and prosperity during

290-613: The Marais de l'Île is a nature reserve in the town of St.Quentin. The traditional market gardens of Amiens , the Hortillonages are on this sort of land but drained. Once exploited for peat cutting , the fen is now used for fishing and shooting In 2001, the Somme valley was affected by particularly high floods, which were in large part due to a rise in the water table of the surrounding land. Catchment area 5,560 km (2,150 sq mi). Daily flow rates compared with mean rates for

319-624: The Somme department , is a seaport and resort on the south bank of the River Somme estuary. The town's medieval character and ramparts, its Gothic church and long waterside boardwalk, make it a popular tourist destination. The commune lies on the Hauts-de-France coast by the Baie de la Somme and at the mouth of the canalised river Somme . It is 30 kilometres (19 miles) north west of Abbeville and to

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348-523: The Treaty of Picquigny , Louis XI brought to an end the Hundred Years' War . The French king had to pay King Edward IV an annual sum of fifty thousand crowns . In 1547, Henry II of France established a market, on every second Monday of the month. Somme (river) The Somme ( UK : / s ɒ m / SOM , US : / s ʌ m / SUM , French: [sɔm] )

377-423: The 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The abbey was rebuilt and still stands today. The activity of the port flourished, thanks to the export of the wines and the growth of the herring industry. It was near enough to Paris to be one of the earlier suppliers of the chasse marée merchants. The commune mirrors the history of France, becoming a site of religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics and later as

406-603: The German advance in the Spring Offensive of 1918 were fought around the valley of the Somme in places like Villers Bretonneux , which marked the beginning of the end of the war. The tributaries listed comprise: Left tributaries: Right tributaries: The river is characterized by a very gentle gradient and a steady flow. The valley is more or less steep-sided but its bottom is flat with fens and pools. These characteristics of steady flow and flooded valley bottom arise from

435-561: The abbey which had become known as Saint-Valery. During the 8th and 9th century, the abbey and village were plundered and devastated on several occasions by the Vikings . The village grew during the 10th and 11th centuries and was historically significant as the site where William the Conqueror assembled his fleet before sailing to invade England in 1066. During the many wars between the French and

464-553: The ages by various names, in 942 as Pinquigniacum , Pinconii castrum in 1066 and Pinchiniacum in 1110, then as Pinkeni , Pinkinei and Pecquigny . After the defeat of the Huns at Lihons -en-Santerre, the inhabitants of Amiens , who had helped the barbarians, took refuge in the castle of Picquigny, to hide from the vengeance of Dagobert , where they were then besieged by him. On 17 December 942, Arnulf I, Count of Flanders and William I, Duke of Normandy came to Picquigny to sign

493-563: The campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Crécy . Crossing the river also featured prominently in the campaign which led to the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1636, a Spanish army led by Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano , crossed the Somme defeating a French army during the Thirty Years War threatening Paris. Most famously, the Battle of the Somme , during World War I , lasted from July to November 1916 and resulted in more than

522-615: The channel is becoming more and more difficult for trawlers. Sailing is developing more and more and sailboats or motor boats are increasingly replacing fishing boats. Each July, the city commemorates the departure of William the Conqueror for the conquest of England . This festival is organized by the Association des Fêtes Guillaume le Conquérant, member of the French Federation of Historical Festivals. For two days, street entertainment, stalls, people in costumes, and musicians enliven

551-544: The commune dates back to before the era of the Roman invasion when it was a small settlement inhabited by Gauls . The Roman invasion encouraged the small hamlet to grow into a small village and after the Romans left France the village soon came under the power of the Franks . In 611, the monk Gualaric (Walric), also known as Valery , arrived in the area. He installed himself as a hermit on

580-479: The eastern end of the town. From Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to Abbeville, the Canal de la Somme has been completely straightened, after which it follows a winding course to Amiens and beyond. Although no longer a busy commercial waterway, it gives an attractive and calm introduction to the French canals and the greater European canal network, thereby avoiding the busy ferry ports of Calais and Dunkirk . Saint-Valery has

609-466: The headland of the site of Leuconaus, now the Cap Hornu. His virtue and miracles quickly attracted disciples. These disciples formed a primitive abbey. The saint was then buried there in 622 and the "Chapelle des marins" was erected in 628 by Saint Blimont over his burial place. Clotaire II (King of Neustrie) provided the foundations of the new abbey in 627. The relics of the saint attracted many pilgrims to

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638-697: The maritime canal, once called the canal du Duc d'Angoulême enters the English Channel. The St Quentin Canal , famous for the 1918 battle , links the Somme to northern France and Belgium and southward to the Oise . The Canal du Nord also links the Somme to the Oise, at Noyon, thence to Paris. Saint-Valery-sur-Somme Saint-Valery-sur-Somme ( French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ valʁi syʁ sɔm] , literally Saint-Valery on Somme ; Picard : Saint-Wary ), commune in

667-553: The old town. Saint-Valery takes part in the Steam Festival, a railway event unique in Europe due to its scale and organized by the Baie de Somme railway service. Every year since 2009, a theater festival takes place in the last week of June. Professional artists from all backgrounds come together to offer the public quality shows in the old town, home of artists from all centuries, such as Victor Hugo and Anatole France . It celebrates

696-404: The region. The modern department of Somme was named after this river. The Somme has featured prominently in several military campaigns. In 1066, the invasion fleet of William the Conqueror assembled in the Bay of the Somme, at Saint-Valery-sur-Somme . The river also featured in the 1346 withdrawal of Edward III of England 's army, which forded the river at the Battle of Blanchetaque during

725-546: The river's being fed by the ground water in the chalk basin in which it lies. At earlier, colder times, from the Günz to the Würm (Beestonian or Nebraskan to Devensian or Wisconsinian) the river has cut down into the Cretaceous geology to a level below the modern water table . The valley bottom has now therefore, filled with water which, in turn, has filled with fen . This picture , of

754-400: The source of the Somme in 1986, shows it when the water table had fallen below the surface of the chalk in which the aquifer lies. Here, the flow of water had been sufficient to keep fen from forming. This satellite photograph shows the fenny valley crossing the chalk to the sea on the left. The sinuous length at the centre of the picture lies downstream from Péronne . One of the fens,

783-409: The time of year at Hangest-sur-Somme (m³/s). Catchment area 4,835 km (1,867 sq mi). 1993 . 1995 . 1997 . 1998 . 1999 . 2001 . 2003 . 2005 . Mean flow rates monthly and daily at Péronne (m³/s). Catchment area 1,294 km (500 sq mi). 1987 . 1989 . 1991 . 1992 . 1993 . 1995 . 1996 . 1997 . 1999 . 2000 . 2001 . 2002 . 2003 . 2004 . 2005 . The construction of

812-579: The west of the battlefields of the Somme . Most of the commune lies adjacent to the sea and the Somme river on the Quai du Romerel, Quai Courbet, Quai Jeanne d'Arc, Quai Blavet and the Quai Perree. The oldest part of the commune lies on the northern coast to the north west of the main settlement. To the south is the main road, the CD940 between Abbeville and Cayeux-sur-Mer . The River Somme is canalised, with sea locks at

841-572: Was known in ancient times as Samara . It presumably means 'the summery river', that is to say the 'quiet river', stemming from an adjective * sam-aro - ('summery') itself derived from the Celtic root * samo - ('summer'). The city of Amiens was also known as Samarobriva (Gaulish: 'bridge on the Samara'). It is attested by the early 1st century BC as the chief town of the Ambiani , an ancient Gallic tribe of

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