By Laurent Hellier
Published on 26 Dec 20 at 18:00
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Located in the heart of Talou, between Envermeu and Londinières, the village of Douvrend is nicely nestled in the meanders of L’Eaulne. But who would have thought that this picturesque village and its myriad of hamlets concealed such a heritage?
This is the vocation of this brand new delivered Douvrend over time which invites us to a fascinating historical stroll.
A book born from an encounter
It is a Douvrendais of always, Jean-Marc Wissart, domiciled Ferrières-en-Bray, which is at the origin of this publishing project.
“I had always dreamed of a complete book on our pretty village, where my family has lived for generations. ”
But the project really becomes concrete when Jean-Marc Wissart meets Lionel Gaudefroy.
The latter, a historian well known for his numerous works and publications, then decides to tackle the task: to write the history of Douvrend and to discover his astonishing heritage. With the help of Jean-Marc Wissart, but also thanks to the memory of Edith and Walter Widmer, Douvrendais forever, Lionel gaudefroy today offers us this fascinating work.
–The history of Douvrend and the Douvrendais
Since prehistoric times, the valley of L’Eaulne has always known an important human habitation. Forest land then livestock and agriculture, Douvrend and the Douvrendais are not lacking in character. This is what the book tells us, in the Gallo-Roman era then with the Vikings, or even during the royalty and the Revolution.
From Napoleon I (several Douvrendais fought alongside him) to modern times, we can see the development towards the Douvrend of today.
All these found faces, these class or city council photos, photos for the most part never published before the publication of this book, take us on a journey through the ages in the life of the women and men of this pretty village. And it is also the interest of this work to show us what makes the strength of an active rural community and proud of its traditions.
Architectural and memorial heritage
Throughout the pages, the reader discovers the richness of the Douvrendais heritage. The church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, the castle of Servière, the mills, the hamlets with their so strong particularities take us on a crazy walk, in the heart of history and human adventure.
This is how we walk in « Tortillard », the old local railway, whether we listen to the brass band playing us its famous tunes, in particular during the village fair at the end of July, or that we play “Flat balls” on the village square. Not a detail has escaped the sagacity of the author who makes us see and even more carefully watch. Let us add that the book also makes us discover the commitment and efforts of the municipality to maintain and enhance this unique heritage.
Douvrendaise celebrities
Through the evocations, we also discover the regional importance of Douvrend. Many personalities were revealed there, such as the famous watchmakers Villeret, painters like Jules Lémery, the ancestors of Charles Nicolle, famous professor of medicine from Rouen, or even the 1998 world champion footballer Emmanuel Petit, whose ancestors have always been from Douvr.
It was also in Douvrend, an important stopover on the famous Dieppe Circuit, photographed many times at the time, that motor racing acquired its first letters of nobility with Fiat, Renault, Darracq, Bayard-Clément … and others prestigious brands from the beginning of the 20th century.
The interest of such a beautiful work? As Lionel Gaudefroy says at the end of the book: Isn’t the best way to understand the present to know the past to better approach the future?
Douvrend au Fil du Temps, A village in Talou on the edge of L’Eaulne. Format 21 x 29.7 – 192 color pages – Hardcover bound book. Edited by Jean-Marc Wissart. Price 35 €. Contact / reservation: by email: [email protected]; by phone: Mrs Nathalie Renoult 02 35 83 53 18
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