Calais

The coastal town of Calais was first fortified in 13th century, when a castle and town walls were built. In 1346, the English laid siege to Calais, finally starving the place into submission after an 11 month siege. The English made some modifications to the defences to protect them against artillery, adding demi-lunes in front of the gates and loopholes in some of the towers.

They also built a tower at the harbour entrance that was to eventually become Fort Risban and a small fort guarding sluices to the west of the town that would become Fort Nieulay. The French recaptured Calais on New Year's Eve 1558 when the defenders were drunk.

The Citadel

After the French recapture, Calais was on the frontier, only a short distance from the Spanish-held stronghold of Gravelines. A strong citadel was built on the west side of the town, incorperating the medieval castle into one corner. Calais was occupied by the Spanish from 1596 to 1598.

When the town was returned to France, Henry IV had Errard improve the citadel. It was rectangular with 4 bastions, one of which encapsulated the old castle. There were gates on the south and east fronts, both defended by demi-lunes.

The town was surrounded with a bastioned trace sometime in the early 16th century, although the medieval defences were left intact as an inner defence. Vauban consolidated the defences of the citadel in the 1690's, which consisted mainly of razing the castle and replacing it with a more conventional bastion.

Fort Nieulay

Until about 200 years ago most of the land around Calais was too marshy to travel on. It was only accessible by a single road, which came into the town from the west, crossing the river Hames a short distance from the town.

During the English occupation of Calais, the Nieulay bridge over the river Hames was protected by a small square fort with towers at the corners, mounting 55 cannon. This fort controlled sluices that could flood the ground in front of the town, creating inundations.

With the ground was flooded, it was impossible for an enemy to come near the town. When the French attacked in 1558, they were able to surprise the defenders of Fort Nieulay, so the sluices were not opened, leaving the town of Calais open to attack. In 1596 the fort was taken by Spanish cavalry in a fast surprise attack. The Spanish modified the fort by lowering the towers and widening the walls, reducing the fort's vulnerability to artillery. Under Richelieu Fort Nieulay was rebuilt as a square earthwork with 4 bastions.

A hornwork protected the far side of the bridge. Richelieu's fort was completely rebuilt by Vauban in 1677. The new Fort Nieulay had a channel cut through the middle, through which the river flowed, entering and leaving the fort by arches in the walls.

Inside the fort there was a bridge across the channel and the sluice gates could also be operated from inside. There were three arches in the wall where the river entered and left the fort, each as small as possible to prevent an enemy from using it to surprise-attack the garrison.

The fort itself took the form of a rectangle with 4 bastions, demi-lunes on three sides and a hornwork projecting westwards. The fort was linked to the town by a defensive dike fronted by a flooded ditch. There was a small redoubt halfway along the dike.

Fort Risban

During the siege of 1346 the English, on finding the town's defences too strong to assault, built a wooden tower by the harbour entrance to prevent the town from being supplied by sea. This humble fortification would evolve over the years, eventually to become Fort Risban.

During the English occupation, a stone tower known as the Lancaster Tower was built on the same location in 1405. Fort Risban was considered vital to the defence of Calais, guarding the channel leading to the sea, and two more towers were added to the fort in the 15th century.

Vauban was scathing of the fort when he inspected it, describing it as a nice place to spend a Sunday afternoon rather than a fortification. However, due to budget limitations he was unable to make vast improvements, only a landward front of two demi-bastions and an earthwork demi-lune.

Dikes, Canals and Redoubts

The defence of Calais revolved around the sluices and the control of the outlying ground. There were a number of square earthwork redoubts built on likely approach routes, designed to delay the enemy but not to withstand a major attack.

3 redoubts were built to the west of the town, one near Fort Nieulay and 2 to the north of the fort. Another was built beside the canal, halfway between Fort Nieulay and the citadel, to prevent the enemy from cutting the communications between these two works.

In the late 17th century a dike was built along the northern side of the canal, linking the citadel's covered way with the covered way of Fort Nieulay. This dike allowed communication and the movement of men between the fortifications when necessary.

Visiting Calais

Calais citadel was shelled by the British navy during the Second World War, destroying the north wall and all the internal buildings. The fortifications are mostly intact and in good condition. The citadel now houses a stadium and is open to visit for free most days.

In 1940, the French garrison of Fort Nieulay heroically struggled against the nazi advance to delay the fall of Calais. The fort was heavily damaged in this action, but it has recently been restored and can be visited for free (afternoons only). Most of the internal buildings were destroyed in the War, but the powder magazine has been restored and holds an exhibition on the history of the fort. The walls themselves are in good condition, apart from the outworks, which are only earthworks today.

An explosion in the powder magazine of Fort Risban in 1799 did considerable damage to its internal buildings, and the fort fell into disrepair after the 1840s. Restoration work has recently been carried out at Fort Risban, and the landward part of the fortifications now appear as they did after Vauban's modifications. A sailing club uses the inside of the fort today, but there is access to all the fortifications. On the seaward side, there are the remains of a small bunker built by the nazis.

One of the square earthwork redoubts has survived and is situated just to the north of Fort Nieulay. Its design was a standard one used by French engineers at many fortified places, but this is the only surviving example known to me. The inside has been filled with earth so the top of the redoubt is flat, but apart from this it is in good condition. Calais is easy to reach by rail, there are regular services from Lille and the Calais Ville station is just to the south of the citadel.

If you are coming from the other side of the channel, car ferries depart from Dover roughly every half hour. The ferry port is opposite Fort Risban. Fort Nieulay is about 10 mins walk out of town to the west. All the fortifications can be visited free of charge.