Bolbec


Bolbec is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Its inhabitants are called Bolbécais or Bolbécaises.

Geography

A farming, quarrying and light industrial town situated at the heart of three valleys in the Pays de Caux, some northeast of Le Havre. It is the source of the river Commerce, though here it is known as the river Bolbec. The town has many small lanes with some pretty houses.

History

The first written record of the town dates from the end of the 11th century, as Bolebec. Archeological discoveries indicate that the site has been inhabited since ancient times. The first lord of Bolbec was Osbern de Bolbec and the last was the Duc de Charost who was executed during the French revolution. Through the Norman family of de Bolbec, the town gives its name to the village of Swaffham Bulbeck in Cambridgeshire, England.
Bolbec developed thanks to the numerous mills which lined the river banks through the town. These mills, numbering 14 in the middle of the 19th century, allowed the development of a textile industry based on water power, and later steam, to power the machinery.
Today, only three mills remain: one at the source of the river in the grounds of the Oril factory; one at Vallot; and one in the Ruelle Papavoine.
At the end of the 18th century, a number of manufacturers installed themselves in Bolbec to produce "Indiennes". On the eve of the Revolution, Bolbec had 18 factories. In 1806, there were 27 producing Indiennes employing nearly 800 workers.
The importance of textiles in the Bolbec Valley was recognised by the state with the creation of the Chambre des Arts et Manufactures in 1806 and further, with the creation of a Conseil des Prud’hommes in 1813. However, over the years the textile industry suffered economic crises and by the end of the 19th century there was just one indiennerie remaining.
Bolbec is the last French town in which Thomas Jefferson, his family, and Sally and James Hemings stayed in 1789 prior to their arrival in Le Havre to return to America after their time in Paris.

Bolbec today

Little remains of the textile history of the town. A single former factory remains, that of the Desgenétais works, closed in 1986. In effect, this site is the last witness of the impact of the textile factories on Bolbec town planning: school, creche, chapel, workers' and foremen's houses… The site provides an exceptional insight into the epoch.

Heraldry

Economy

Bolbec is the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bolbec - Lillebonne.

Industry

The principal employers in Bolbec are Oril Industrie, part of the Servier Pharmaceutical group, and Cooper Standard Automotive, automobile equipment manufacturers specialising in waterproofing

Sights