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Petit-Quevilly (Municipality, Seine-Maritime, France)

by Pascal Vagnat

Presentation of Petit-Quevilly
Municipal flag of Petit-Quevilly

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Presentation of Petit-Quevilly

The municipality of Petit-Quevilly (22,600 inhabitants) is located south of Rouen, across the river Seine. It is the seventh largest city in the department of Seine-Maritime.

The city was founded in the early ages of the duchy of Normandy but its precise origin remains obscure. The name Quevilly might come from Cavilliacum, the name of a Roman estate, or more probably from queville, the name locally given to a wooden fence used to drive game.
The territory of Petit-Quevilly was then covered by the ducal forest of Rouvray, whose southern part still exists. There is another city named Grand-Quevilly. The epithets Petit (small) and Grand (big) have nothing to do with the size of the cities but reflect their distance to Rouen, Petit-Quevilly being located closer to Rouen than Grand-Quevilly.

The domain of Petit-Quevilly was ceded in 1035 to the abbey of Bec-Hellouin by Herlouin, the founder of the abbey. In 1180, Henry II Plantagenet, king of England and duke of Normandy, founded in the park of Rouvray the "Royal House", a leper-house for young women. The house was closed in 1366 and its only remain is the St. Julian's chapel. In 1207, king of France Philippe-Auguste edicted the chart of the Bruyères-Saint-Julien, which remained effective until the French Revolution. The St. Julian's priory was built around 1600 and administrated by Cartusians.

Petit-Quevilly was granted municipal statutes in 1790, but the development of the city started only in the XIXth century with the industrialization of the region. Pierre Malétra, a merchant from Rouen, built in 1808 the Malétra factory, specialized in industrial equipement. Malétra's flagship was an oven for burning pyrites, sold all over the world. Pyrites (from Ancient Greek purithes lithos, fire stone) is a natural iron sulphur (FeS2). The factory hired 800 workers, including the Swedish writer August Strindberg (1849-1912), who spent year 1895 in Petit-Quevilly. The factory was stopped in 1963 and demolished in 1971. The resulting industrial wasteland was transformed into the new borough of Nobel-Bozel.
The Buddicom factory was founded in 1841 in Petit-Quevilly. The first locomotives and wagons used on the railway line Paris-Rouen, inaugurated in 1843, were built there. The factory also produced sugar mills. The locomotive factory was moved in 1845 to the neighbouring city of Sotteville-les-Rouen, which was located closer to the railway. In 1848, the soap manufacturer Lacour bought the factory and transformed it into a soap factory which caused a great wrath in Marseilles, the traditional center of soap production in France. In 1875, soap production was replaced by innovative chemical production of carbon sulphur and rubber, directed by Herubel. The factory, which onced hired 850 workers, was closed in 1988.
The cotton mill La Foudre was founded in 1842. Its name came from the boiler used in the factory, which had been retrieved from the tugboat La Foudre (The Lightning), sunk in the river Seine. The factory grounds were built by the English architect Fairbain and certified fireproof. The factory was increased in 1859 by Pouyer-Quertier, who hired 700 workers. The factory was closed in the 1930s and taken back by the Army in 1938. All the remaining buildings have been recently purchased by the municipality of Petit-Quevilly.

The football-club Union Sportive de Quevilly (USQ) was founded in 1902 by the manufacturer Amable Lozai. USQ has remained an amateur club since its early beginnings. In 1927, USQ played the final of the French Cup againt Olympique de Marseille. The club played the semi-finals once again in 1942. After the Second World War, USQ was among the best amateur French clubs. The team won the Championnat de France Amateur (CFA) in 1954, 1955, 1958 and 1967. That very same year, USQ played the semi-finals of the French Cup and lost 1-2 against Bordeaux and the USQ player Daniel Horlaville was selected for the national team. USQ plays today in CFA2, the second league for amateur clubs.

Sources:

Ivan Sache, 7 April 2004

Flag of Petit-Quevilly

The flag of Petit-Quevilly, as found by Pascal Vagnat on the municipal website, is white with the municipal logotype, mostly based on the Q letter.

Ivan Sache, 7 April 2004