Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The bailliage of Caudebec-en-Caux came into being in the 13th century, when the city became the seat of a royal bailliage for the Caux region, with high justice. This status allows the construction of a prison, backed by the city's eastern ramparts. In the 14th century, a pretoire and chapel Saint-Léonard were added, forming a complete judicial set. The prisons, made of stone, include dungeons, a guard room and bass asses, while a building on street, the former bailiff, closes the whole to the southwest.

In the 18th century, the bailiff was rebuilt at the corner of the streets of Crosne and Vicomté, reusing the stones of the tower of the Fascines, then demolished. In 1811, the whole was converted into a city hall, marking a change of function. During the Second World War (1940 and 1944), the bombing destroyed the former bailiff and the court, whose foundations remained buried. In 1983, excavations revealed forgotten bass asses, while the protected remains (building bodies, prison seats and ramparts) still bear witness to this judicial past.

The protections under the Historical Monuments concern two phases: the registration of the building body of the bailliage in 1934, and the substructure of the prison and the ramparts in 1996. Today, the remains of this medieval and modern complex, shared between communal and private property, recall the judicial importance of Caudebec-en-Caux, strategic city between Rouen and Le Havre.

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