Wissant: Beautiful in Summer and Winter — Part 1

We have been coming to Wissant since the late 90s. It feels like a second home. I have so many happy memories of precious times spent here with my husband, my sisters, my brother, two nieces, my only godson and nephew, my husband’s sister, family, and close friends. We remarried here in August 2009 (originally married in Rome in 1991 and subsequently divorced—but that’s another story for a different day).

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You can find Wissant on the beautiful D940 coastal road, 20 km southwest of Calais, halfway between Cap Blanc-Nez and Cap Gris-Nez.

Geographic history

Geologically, Cap Blanc-Nez (white nose) to the northeast is made of the same white chalk as the cliffs at Dover in Kent across the channel straits. In contrast, Cap Gris-Nez (grey nose) is composed of grey clay. Together with the Weald of Kent, they comprise a geological syncline. In the past, at the height of the last ice age, there was no sea between the Weald of Kent and the Boulonnais area in Pas de Calais, instead the Straits of Dover was a land bridge linking Britain to mainland Europe. Brexiteers take note (Yes, I know it was 2016 but here we are!).

Wissant was an old channel port. Caesar used it for his second invasion of Britain in 54 B.C.; it was an important port in the early Middle Ages and Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, on route from Rome, passed through Wissant, on his final journey back to Canterbury in 1170, where he was assassinated in the cathedral. However, by the sixteen century, the harbour at Wissant had silted up.

Photo author Plaque on right-hand side of Église Saint-Nicolas, Wissant

It is quite amazing looking out on this seascape to imagine that the Spanish Armada fleet left Lisbon on the orders of King Philip II of Spain in late May 1588, to invade England; overthrowing Queen Elizabeth I; reinstating Catholicism; ending English support for the Dutch republic and preventing attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas.

The Spanish Armada (150 ships; 30,000 men) sailed up the English Channel, planning to join the Duke of Parma in Flanders. During July -August 1588, having arrived safely off the French coast between Wissant and Calais, and waiting for the Duke of Parma, the Spanish Armada was attacked by an English fleet of eight fireships from Plymouth. That and subsequent stormy bad weather forced the Spanish Armada to retreat and escape back to Spain via the North Atlantic around Scotland and the North and West coast of Ireland. Forty-four Spanish ships were lost (many washed up on the Irish coast between Antrim and Kerry, 10 were scuttled) and approximately 11,000 – 20,000 Spanish died during the Spanish Armada expedition.

The construction of the Calais-Boulogne railway line in early 1867, enabled a new generation of French travellers to discover the beauty of the Baie de Wissant. Between the late 19th century and the early 20th century, a group of French artists arrived in Wissant. They shared a love of the land, the light and the sea at Wissant. This group of artists came to be known as L’ecole de Wissant. They included Adrian Demont, Virginie Demont-Breton, Paule Crampel, Louise Ball Demont, Edouard Houssin, Raoul Brygoo, Pierre Carrier-Belleuse and Valentine Pèpe.

Adrian Demont, from L’Ecole de Wissant et Ses Peintres, Art et Histoire de Wissant, Jean-Marie Ball, Annette Bourrut Lacouture, Philippe Gallois, 2012

Photo author Adrian Demont and Virginie Demont-Breton, gate to residence on Rue du Calvaire des Marins, Wissant

Virginie Demont-Breton, from L’Ecole de Wissant et Ses Peintres, Art et Histoire de Wissant, Jean-Marie Ball, Annette Bourrut Lacouture, Philippe Gallois, 2012

General/President De Gaulle, originally from Lille, used to enjoy summer holidays with his family in Wissant

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In Word War II, Wissant was occupied by the Nazis, who thought that the British would attempt an attack in the Calais area. This was immortalised in the BBC sitcom Dad’s Army opening credits.

The Nazis built many concrete blockhouses along the French coast as part of the Atlantic Wall, like this one on Wissant Beach, which has now been demolished due to health and safety concerns.

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Whilst stationed at Wissant in 1941, two German soldiers, on sick leave, painted two frescoes of their hometowns (Königswinter beside the river Rhine and Cologne cathedral) on the indoor walls of a local cafe bar Chez Nicole, where we enjoyed a glass of champagne after our wedding ceremony.

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As mentioned earlier, by the 16th century, the harbour at Wissant had completely silted up. Since then, Wissantais fishermen have had to push, pull and drag their unique fishing boats called flobarts, up and down from the beach, either manually or by horse or tractor. Sadly, now the number of Wissantais fishermen has declined to one last, existing flobart owned by local Patrick Malfoy, who has been a fisherman in Wissant for over 30 years.

Photo from Dernier Flobart by Damien Waymel, 2012

In my next article, I hope to write about some local enterprising individuals in Wissant, working with the local land, the sea, and its produce, and next weekend’s annual Flobart Festival.