Bapaume, on the crossroads of History

I knew that Bapaume was located 30 minutes from Arras, standing on a strategic highway that goes back to Antiquity. In the Middle Ages, it was a key milestone on the road to Flanders. It was here that Philippe Auguste and Isabelle de Hainaut celebrated their marriage in 1180. Wiped off the map in 1917, the capital of South Artois was reconstructed during the inter-war years. Today, its heroes, its belfry, the remains of its keep and its church make it of historical interest.

Heroes and belfry

It is General Faidherbe in person who welcomes me on the Place Sadi-Carnot. The victor of the Battle of Bapaume (1871), no less!

Bapaume, a land of great men? It must be so because the next moment, I come face to face with Raoul Briquet and Albert Tailliandier. These two deputies lost their lives in the explosion at the Town Hall in March 1917. As they retreated a few hours earlier, the Germans had planted a time bomb as a farewell. As I enter the Town Hall, I am now greeted by Abel Guidet, the Deputy Mayor of Bapaume from 1929 to 1944.

A prolific producer of false documents, this great figure of the Resistance perished in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp in Germany. But his funerary urn is given pride of place in the Town Hall foyer. Instead of ashes, it holds earth brought from Gross-Rosen. An imposing building distinguished by its square belfry standing 55 metres tall, the Town Hall itself was reconstructed in the early 1930s on the site of the original seventeenth century building. A mix of brick and stone, this architectural ensemble is of Flemish influence.

Today, it stages performances of various kinds and you can walk around it, following the sentry path overlooking the former moats. This is the tip of the iceberg: beneath my feet is the bulk of the iceberg concealing the sixteenth century underground tunnels. This small town of 4,000 inhabitants certainly has plenty of pluses to commend it. My walk then takes me to the Church of Saint-Nicolas. Like most of the monuments in Bapaume, it was destroyed during the First World War.

Its facade is surmounted by a tower which is in turn topped by a dome and a small arrow. Although it was built from brick and white stone like the belfry, it features another two materials that were modern for the time: concrete and hollow brick. But above all, Saint-Nicolas is known for its statue of Our Lady of Pity. In fact, this statue has survived various episodes of looting and plundering since the French Revolution. A miracle.

Then, I wander down the Rue de la Liberté to view the “Sheffield” houses, financed by the English city of Sheffield to home First World War widows. But the “palme d’or” for generosity goes to the British industrialist George Lawrence.  This wealthy razor blade manufacturer funded the construction of a crèche in the Rue Lequette. Today, it is home to the museum of the Archaeological Society of Bapaume where a host of artefacts dating from prehistoric times up to the Great War are on display.

Bapaume, in practice

• Arras Pays d’Artois Tourist Information Office, 10 place Faidherbe – 62 450 Bapaume. Tel: +33 (0)3 21 59 89 84
• contactbapaume@arraspaysdartois.com