THE REGION

Conches, at the eastern end of the Pays d’Ouche, keeps traces of the Gallo-Roman occupation (the road from Chartres to Lillebonne, entrenchments in the forest, etc…), its coat of arms: “Gold with a band of Blue Azur charged with three shells of Silver” fascinates scholars. Do they allude to the shape of its valley, or to the abundance of shells in its ponds, or even better to the memory of Conques, in Aveyron, visited by one of Tosny’s first sons back from Spain?

Still, Conches made its entry into history after the Norman Conquest. Roger I went to war in Spain, founded the Abbey of Chastillon-les-Conches and, abandoning his first fortress near the sources of the Rouloir, built the present keep. His son Raoul II took part in the conquest of England and received vast estates there. Raoul III, on returning from a pilgrimage to Spain, visited Conques and brought back a relic of Sainte Foy, who became the patron saint of the church he had built. Dugueslin, who defeated his troops at Cocherel (1364), took the fortified town after a long siege and remained Count of Conches until his death.
The town grew thereafter, its trade prospered, renowned were its ironwork items such as the products of the Forges du Vieux Conches. The Dukes of Bouillon obtained the concession to float wood from the forest via the Rouloir and the Iton to Rouen; a lot was built around the middle of the 18th century.

In 1844, the construction of the Paris-Cherbourg railway transformed the economic and social life of the city. Once again, with the progress of machinery, the Forges du Vieux Conches experienced an era of prosperity. They produced artistic firebacks and the central arrow of Rouen Cathedral came out of their workshops. Conches was also home to the famous Normandy dairy industry, being the seat of the manufacture of the BRIDEL camembert.
Today Conches is a peaceful city of 5,000 inhabitants where it’s good to live and walk around…