Audresselles

Audresselles (Dutch: Ouderzelle, English: St. John) is a commune south of Cape Gris Nez in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.

Audresselles
Commune
The village
Coat of arms
Location of Audresselles
Audresselles Audresselles
Coordinates: 50°49′28″N 1°35′41″E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Boulogne-sur-Mer
Canton	Desvres
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de la Terre des Deux Caps
Government
• Mayor (2014-2020)	Roger Tourret
Area ^1	5.72 km^2 (2.21 sq mi)
Population  (2017-01-01)[1]	649
• Density	110/km^2 (290/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Épônois
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	62056 /62164
Elevation	0–114 m (0–374 ft) (avg. 30 m or 98 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The commune covers about 2,000 acres (810 ha) of cultivated lands, two beaches, and seashore cliffs. In the 12th century it was known as Oderzelle.

History

Seafront

Between the end of English occupation in 1558 and the middle of the 17th century, Audresselles seigneury included Haringzelle hamlet; today, this is now a forest hiding the former German artillery batteries of Audinghen. This seigneury was owned by the Acary family, which gave some admirals to the French fleet and from whom most of the borough fishermen are descended.

An old fishers village, Audresselles has kept its characteristic features: its long houses with a colored strip along the lower part of the walls, in the village center, and some villas of the "Belle Époque" in front of the English Channel. Professional fishing families still live in Audresselles, and one of them uses the village sand beach to land its ship. The traditional flobarts (little truncated drakkars) are still used by the holiday yachtsmen.

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1793	660	—
1800	623	−5.6%
1806	605	−2.9%
1821	740	+22.3%
1831	746	+0.8%
1836	720	−3.5%
1841	708	−1.7%
1846	693	−2.1%
1851	660	−4.8%
1856	608	−7.9%
1861	588	−3.3%
1866	575	−2.2%
1872	525	−8.7%
1876	513	−2.3%
1881	510	−0.6%
1886	522	+2.4%
1891	508	−2.7%
1896	468	−7.9%
1901	452	−3.4%
1906	497	+10.0%
1911	454	−8.7%
1921	434	−4.4%
1926	425	−2.1%
1931	435	+2.4%
1936	410	−5.7%
1946	457	+11.5%
1954	430	−5.9%
1962	424	−1.4%
1968	440	+3.8%
1975	489	+11.1%
1982	538	+10.0%
1990	587	+9.1%
1999	681	+16.0%
2006	706	+3.7%
2007	709	+0.4%
2008	712	+0.4%
2009	714	+0.3%
2013	684	−4.2%
2015	679	−0.7%

Sights

The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (12th century)

• The Church of Saint John the Baptist, fortified, 12th century, with large canvas of the Second Empire painted in the Catholic workhalls of father Jacques Paul Migne by Arthur Gilbert and a little 18th century reredos.
• Saint-John farm (11th century) with the stone-cross of the crusader in the front wall;
• The coaching inn, rue Édouard Quénu (eighteenth century).
• The panoramic allée Maurice Boitel

Beach and dune fauna

The town has given its name to the blue European lobster.

Birds

Gulls, cormorants, jackdaws, loons, mallards, bitterns, sandpipers, snipes, oystercatchers, herons, curlews, egrets, guillemots, peregrine falcons, swans, and geese.

Marine mammals

Some black-headed seals have settled down in the creeks behind the village since July 2006 and dislike to be disturbed, following the swimmers to the beach. Also present are Orcas (killer whales), pilot whales, dolphins and porpoises.

Flora

Plants of this region are those that can resist the salt-laden southwesterly wind. Species include Lyciet, privet, spindle-tree, eleagnus, speedwell, marram grass and Armeria maritima.

Personalities

• Robert Beauvais, writer and journalist
• Albert Besson, bacteriologist
• Maurice Boitel, painter
• Carolus-Duran, painter
• Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, painter
• Henri Dutilleux, composer
• Arthur Gilbert, English painter. Paintings of him can be seen in the choir of the church;
• Philippe de Hauteclocque said Leclerc, marshal of France
• Edmond Marin la Meslée, aviator

Living

• Catherine Destivelle, alpinist

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file
• "Audresselles, éléments d'une histoire", éd. Association Mémoire d'Audresselles

by Daniel Leunens.

• "Rivages boulonnais", éd. Association Mémoire d'Audresselles, by Olivier Lazzarotti (December 2006).
• "Nobiliaire de Picardie", page 1, written in 1698 by Jérôme Bignon.

1. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.

External links

• Photographs of Audresselles
• Audresselles.at - unBlog.fr dompaul2.unblog.fr/