973 



EURE. 



EURE. 



974 



several important iron-works ; the other rivers drive the machinery 

 of a great number of corn-mills, paper-mills, and factories. The 

 Seine is navigated by small steamers and large river barges between 

 Rouen and Paris, and by large sea-going vessels below Rouen. [SEINE.] 



Soil and Produce. The department is almost entirely occupied by 

 the chalk that encircles the Paris basin, and is covered with a vegetable 

 and clayey soil which is very thin on the crests of the hills. Along 

 the Seine there are some tracts covered with barren sand quite 

 incapable of cultivation. A good deal of marsh-land near the mouth 

 of the Seine has been reclaimed by embankments and brought into 

 cultivation. 



The extensive cultivation of corn in the plains 'gives them a rich 

 but monotonous appearance. The roads, as in all parts of Normandy, 

 are lined with rows of apple and pear-trees. Besides corn of all kinds, 

 more than enough for the consumption, hemp, flax, apples and pears 

 for cider, plums, cherries, teazles, weld, leguminous plants, and 

 garden stuffs are abundantly grown. Hones of the Norman breed 

 are reared in considerable numbers ; sheep are numerous, and 

 esteemed for their flesh, especially when fed on pastures near the 

 ea. The best fat cattle brought to the Paris markets are from the 

 rich pastures of Roumois and Lieuvin. Hogs of large breed are reared 

 in great numbers. Poultry is abundant and of excellent quality. The 

 rivers abound with tench and other fish, and great quantities of 

 salmon and shad ascend them from the sea. 



The vineyards of the department, which are for the most part 

 confined to the valleys of the Eure, the Iton, and the Seine, yield 

 only 1,320,000 gallons of wine. The annual produce of cider is 

 estimated at 29,700,000 gallons. The most common trees in the 

 forests are oak, elm, beech, maple, and birch. The long rows of 

 lofty poplars in the neighbourhood of the Seine are a characteristic 

 feature in the scenery. Farms range from 30 to 300 acres. The farm- 

 houses and farm-b'iildings are mostly built of wood and covered in with 

 tiles or thatch.. The dwellings of the poorer classes are built of 

 wood and clay, and thatched. 



Minerals and Manufactures. The department is rich in iron-ore ; 

 building-stone, millstones, and paving-granite are quarried ; fullers' - 

 earth and potters'-clay are found. There are mineral springs at various 

 places in the department. The manufactures consist of fine and coarse 

 Woollen cloths, linen, thread, calico, paper, printed cottona, cotton- 

 yarn, cutlery, tape, cotton hosiery, blankets, carpets, wind-instrumentB, 

 horn and boxwood' combs, glue, nails, pins, hardware, &c. There are 

 25 furnaces and foundries for the manufacture of iron, glass-works, 

 numerous flour and paper-mills, dye-houses, fulling-mills, marble- 

 sawing works, sugar refineries, bleaching grounds, important copper 

 foundries, zinc works, and a great number of tan-yards. The exports 

 are composed of the various agricultural and industrial products named 

 or indicated ; the imports chiefly of the raw material required in the 

 numerous manufactures, and of colonial produce. There are 698 

 wind and water-mills, and 727 factories of different kind.-; in the 

 department. 



:"tle. The climate is in general mild, moist, and changeable, 

 but healthy, bearing a considerable resemblance to that of England. 

 The west and north-west winds bring rain and fog ; these winds, with 

 the north and the south-west, are the most common. Between 95 and 

 100 days in the year are rainy. The country is better wooded than 

 France generally is. In descending towards Pacy on the Eure, on the 

 road from Paris to Caen, the magnificence of the prospect is very 

 striking. The valley of the Eure, broad and perfectly level, abounds 

 with fine trees, which are planted in the Inclosnres of the rich 

 meadow-land. 



Communicationt, The department is crossed by 12 national, 26 

 departmental, and 47 parish roads. It has great facilities for com- 

 munication by the Seine, and by the Paris and Rouen railroad, which 

 has 34 miles of its length in this department, all, as far as Pont-de- 

 1'Arche, on the left bank of the Seine. From this line two branch 

 railroads are making, one from near the Vernon station through 

 Erreux and Conches, the other from near Pont-de-1'Arche to Bernay, 

 where it meets the former, and is to be continued through Lisieux 

 to Caen. 



Diritiong, Tovrm, <tc. The department contains 1,721,218 acres. 

 Of this surface about a million of acres are arable land, 57,354 pasture- 

 land, 85,826 are orchards, nurseries, and gardens, 309,896 are covered 

 with woods and forests, and 46,471 with heaths and marshes. It is 

 divided into five arrondissements, which, with their subdivisions and 

 population, are as follows : 



1. The first arrondissement has P.vrtux tar its chief town, which is 

 noticed in a separate article. Of the other towns we mention the follow- 

 ing, giving with each throughout the population of the eommune : 



Breteuil, a town of 2153 inhabitants, stands on the Iton, 20 miles 

 S.S.W. from Evreux, near the Forest of Breteuil, and in a country 

 abounding in iron-ore. A church, which dates from the llth 

 century, and the remains of a castle built by the Conqueror, and dis- 

 mantled in 1378 by Du Guescliu, are the most remarkable objects in 

 the town. The manufactures consist of hardware, nails, pins, copper- 

 wire, mill-castings, &c. ; there are also iron foundries and smelting 

 furnaces. There is a cold ferruginous spring at Breteuil. Conches 

 stands in a fine wheat and pasture country on the slope of a little 

 hill above the Iton, 12 miles S.W. from Evreux, and has 2094 inhabit- 

 ants, who are engaged in the manufacture of iron, hardware, shoe 

 and glove leather, &c. It was formerly defended by a strong castle, 

 of which the massive walls, deep moat, and four of the towers still 

 exist. The church of Conches dates from the 16th century; it is 

 lighted through painted windows. St.-Andre-la-Marche is a small 

 place south of Evreux, with; 1234 inhabitants. It stands in an 

 extensive plain, which suffers frequently from drought. The barony 

 of St.-Andrd belonged to the family of Bayard, whose coat-of-arms 

 and famous device may be seen on the walls of the church. A little 

 east of St.-Audrc, near the Eure, is Ivry, with 1010 inhabitants, near 

 which Henri IV. defeated the Duke of Mayenne, March 14, 1590. 

 A pyramid erected by the Duke of Penthievre to commemorate this 

 victory was demolished by the republicans in 1793, and restored by 

 Napoleon in 1809. Ivry belonged to Raoul, half-brother of Richard I., 

 duke of Normandy, in whose time a strong fortress was built on the 

 hill, at the base of which the town soon sprung up. William the 

 Bastard gave the domain of Ivry to Roger de Beaumont, who in 1071 

 founded a Benedictine monastery below the castle. In A.D. 1119 

 Henry I. of England threw a strong garrison into the tower of Ivry, 

 as the castle was sometimes called. Louis-le- Jeanne and Henry II. of 

 England had an interview, in presence of the Pope's legate, near Ivry 

 ia 1176. In the 15th century an upper town existed, which was built 

 on the hill round the castle, besides the town and monastery of Ivry, 

 which stood in the valley. In 1418 the upper town was taken by 

 Talbot the English general, and the castle capitulated soon after. In 

 1424 Ivry and its castle were again taken by the English under the 

 Duke of Bedford. They were recovered by the French in 1449 under 

 count Dunois, who demolished the fortress, of which there are now 

 only extensive ruins. Nonancourt, on the left bank of the Avre, for- 

 merly a strong fortress and the scene of many an interview between 

 the Norman kings of England and the kings of France, is now a small 

 place of 1529 inhabitants. The house in which Henri IV. slept the 

 night before the battle of Ivry is still shown. Pacy, in a very beautiful 

 valley on the Eure, with the remains of ancient walls around it, has a 

 population of 1496. The ancient castle of Pacy, the residence of Philippe 

 Auguste and St.-Louis, was dismantled by Charles V., who took the 

 town by assault in 1378. Bugles, near the right bank of the Rille, is the 

 centre of a great manufacture of pins and nails ; iron-wire, hardware, 

 calico, tape, sewing-thread, stockings, paper, &c., are also made. It 

 has moreover iron, copper, and zinc works : population, 2050. Ver- 

 neuil, in the south of the department, and near the left bank of the 

 Avre, was formerly defended by a strong castle, of which the keep is 

 till standing, and by three other fortresses, the whole surrounded by 

 ramparts and deep ditches. The fortifications are now for the most 

 part replaced by handsome promenades. The ancient church of La- 

 Madeleine, which is surmounted by a tower richly decorated with 

 sculptured work, is the great ornament of the town. Verneuil has a 

 public library and 3956 inhabitants, who manufacture hosiery, flannels. 

 hardware, pottery, &c., and trade in linen, canvas, wool, and dressed 

 skins for bookbinding. The greatest onion fair in Europe is held here 

 on the 9th of October annually. Under the walls of Verneuil the 

 Duke of Bedford hi 1424 gained his last victory over the French, after 

 a battle which lasted two whole days. Verneuil is an ancient place j 

 it was burnt in 1134 by lightning. Heury I., duke of Normandy, 

 rebuilt it, and surrounded it with the strong fortifications above alluded 

 to ; and from this time till 1594, when it finally submitted to Henri 

 IV., the town was besieged and taken at least once in a century by the 

 French or English. Vernon, a station on the Paris-Rouen railroad, 

 stands on the left bank of the Seine, which is here crossed by a bridge 

 of 22 arches, leading to the suburb of Vemonnet. It has a college, 

 and 7128 inhabitants, who have no manufactures of importance, but 

 trade to some extent in corn, flour, wine, and cut stone. The town 

 is in general ill built ; the streets, formed of timber-framed houses, 

 are narrow and crooked, but kept clean by running streams. Promen- 

 ades in the form of boulevards surround the town. The parish church, 

 and the church of the Hotel-Dieu, an hospital founded by St.-Louis, 

 and an ancient massive tower, are the most remarkable objects. A 

 fine avenue leads from Vernon to the Chateau de Bizy, which belonged 

 to the Duke of Penthicvre, who retired hither with his daughter on 

 the breaking out of the French revolution in 1792. The duke died 

 here March 4, 1793 ; through his daughter and heiress, who married 

 the Duke of Orleans (Egalite'), the chateau and domain of Bizy came 

 to Louis Philippe, who occasionally resided here before his accession 

 to the throne. 



2. In the second arrondissement, the chief town, Lonviers, formerly 

 Loviers, stands in a valley skirted by extensive woods, and watered by 

 numerous bratrches of the Eure, 14 miles N. from Evreux, and has 

 tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chamber of commerce, 



