©Nohcab Calais and England: a long history
This is our geography and our history! Calais is 30 kilometers facing the English coast. Its history has therefore often been related to Great Britain. A look back at links and facts, between "cordial understanding", successes and sometimes tensions.
The Burghers of Calais
The Burghers of Calais, evoke The Hundred Years War, just like Joan of Arc, Agincourt or Crécy. So let's refresh our memories... At the start of the conflict, the troops of King Edward III of England began in 1346 the siege of Calais, a stronghold surrounded by walls and equipped with a port. After 11 months of siege, the starving people of Calais asked to capitulate, but Edward III demanded that six notables hand over their lives and the keys to the city as a token of submission. Six men, led by Eustache de Saint Pierre, devote themselves and head for the gallows... before being pardoned by the wife of the King of England. Thus began 211 years of English presence, until 1558. The famous work of Auguste Rodin recalls this story which marks the beginning of the unique relationship between Calais and England.
The Monument to the Burghers of Calais
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©Nohcab “The Pale of Calais”
The English possessions extended about twenty kilometers around Calais, a territory called the "Pale of Calais". By hiking on the trails to the west of Calais XXL, near Saint-Tricat, Bonningues-les-Calais or Hames-Boucres, we walk on what was for 2 centuries a piece of England! In Calais, during these two centuries, the English developed the port activity with the prosperous trade in wool and textiles. English Calais, a fortified city, was structured around the triangle of port – Notre Dame church – castle (nowadays the Citadel). The parade ground was its heart. Some sumptuous residences have disappeared over the centuries, including the palace where Henry VIII welcomed other sovereigns such as Charles V and Francis I. The main testimony to this English presence is the Notre-Dame church, one of the few examples of English religious architecture on the continent. As a reminder of this influence, the soothing and fragrant park bordering the church took the name of Tudor Garden.
The Church of Our Lady of Calais
©Nohcab The Port of Calais is growing in importance
©nohcab France regained possession of Calais in 1558, after 211 years of English presence.The port has taken on an important role in a northern European context where trade is increasing and diversifying. Maritime activity is developing but tensions between European nations are recurring. The port of Calais therefore also has a military role, and is severely impacted by the blockade imposed on England by Napoleon I. A harmful consequence locally, the port of Calais no longer has relations with English ports... At the fall of the Empire, a King returns to the throne of France, it is Louis XVIII. He was in exile in England... and returns to France via Calais in April 1814.
In the 19th century, economic relations developed
After the fall of Napoleon, relations between Calais and England took a significant economic turn. In 1816, three Englishmen (Clark, Webster, and Bonington) arrived at the port of Calais. They worked in the mechanical lace industry in Nottingham. They discreetly brought with them, in parts and in smuggler mode, a lace loom! These were the beginnings of Calais lace, which would transform the destiny of many people! On the port side, passenger transport between Calais and Dover would develop in the early 3th century. Another great story began, that of the main port between the European continent and Great Britain. Over the decades, companies linked to the British market or of English origin would establish themselves in Calais, including Meccano, the famous toy.
Touching the Calais-Caudry Lace
©F. Collier 
©Elouviews France and the United Kingdom, allies
From the first months of the 1914-1918 War, the Germans had the northern ports among their objectives: it was "the race to the sea." Facing England, Calais was targeted, but the Germans were kept a few dozen kilometers away. Calais and its surroundings would become a major rear base behind the front. The Belgian, French, and English armies were heavily involved there. Supply, hospitals, equipment storage, the port of Calais was a hive of activity. Trains left for the front, ships made the connection with England, whose soldiers transited through the port. Protecting this vital sea route was one of the missions of the Dover PatrolAlthough Calais was not involved in the land fighting, its role as an inter-allied base should not be neglected.
©nohcab The citadel defended Calais during the German invasion of May 1940. The French troops were supported by a British contingent. Their resistance allowed them to slow down the Germans on their way to Dunkirk where the Dynamo evacuation operation was being prepared. During the German Occupation, the sky over Calais was a permanent battlefield between airmen. The Calais Memory Museum is a witness to this dark era. And when we talk about Franco-English relations, they are symbolized by the links between Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill during the Second World War. A statue in the Parc Richelieu illustrates the two Great Men.
Calais 1940: Resisting against all odds
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©Nohcab Relationships in a globalized context
In the second half of the 20th century, vehicle and passenger traffic between the ports of Dover and Calais exploded! It reached almost 2 million in the 1990s...not counting the traffic absorbed by the major Franco-English project of the period, the construction of the Channel Tunnel (1987-1993). It was inaugurated on May 6, 1994 by Queen Elizabeth II and President François Mitterrand. While relations of all kinds between Calais and England remain lively, they must also deal with a new international context, between the global issue of population migration and the United Kingdom's exit (Brexit) from the European Union.
Crossing the Channel: exploits and legends
©Eurotunnel