En un regard
Le château en bref
At the top of the cliff at Cap Gris-Nez, in Audinghen, the buried remains survive of a fort built by the English in the mid-16th century. Constructed from 1546 to 1549 for Henry VIII by the military engineer John Rogers during the occupation of the Boulonnais, it is the last surviving structure from this English presence on the northern coast of France. Its square plan, roughly 100 m on each side, had four fortified faces, a bastion at each corner, curtain walls and a ditch: it illustrates the transition from medieval defences to bastioned fortifications. Erosion of the cliff has carried away the northern curtain wall, and only a few stretches of masonry remain. Listed as a monument historique since 1988, the site is not open to visitors, but a laid-out viewpoint near the cape car park allows it to be observed. A German blockhouse was built among the ruins during the Occupation.