If in 1660 you had been standing on the banks of the river Charente, where Rochefort now rests, all you would have seen would have been a new squat stone built manor house (now the Marine museum) , the ruins of an ancient chateau and a few fisherman's shacks. Nothing else except uninhabited marshland and, to the north, a dense forest. In 1666 all this was to change.
On the throne of France was Louis XIV who was growing increasingly concerned over the threat to the Atlantic seaboard caused by the English and Dutch navies. Two of his ambitions were to develop the strength and effectiveness of the French navy and to establish a defendable shipbuilding and munitions manufacturing base on the west coast, somewhere that would rival the port of Brest.
After looking at other options along the western coast it was decided that 'Roca Fortis' was to the the site for an extraordinary building and town planning venture that was to result in the town of Rochefort. The government's finance minister, Colbert, was commanded by Louis to expropriate the piece of land.
A plan was drawn up for the town and, in true military style, the centre was based on a grid with streets at right angles and two wide avenues and a large open square at the centre. The building development was rapid and by 1672 the town looked like this
By 1675 a defensive wall or ramparts had been constructed with three gateways into the town. Sadly only a few sections of the ramparts remain as they were largly demolished in the 1930's to provide building materials. Rochefort's newly refurbished museum (Musée Hebre de Saint Clement, 63 Ave. Charles de Gaulle) has excellent displays of these early days in the town's history. Well worth a visit and it's free entry.
The arsenal, area 1 on the drawing, contained all the workshops and yards needed for shipbuilding and ammunition manufacturing as well as barracks and facilities for producing and storing huge quantities of food and supplies for the naval and military forces based in the town. Most of these buildings are still standing including the beautiful long construction where ropes were made. The Corderie Royale, or royal rope works, was burned down at the end of WW2 but was restored in the 1960's and now contains a fascinating museum of shipbuilding..
For well over 200 years Rochefort grew and prospered, remaining the French Navy's West Coast shipbuilding and repair base and at the end of the 19C was the most populated town in the Charente Maritime. However in 1927, as the result of the silting up of the river , the arsenal was closed causing the town to enter a period of decline and neglect. This chapter of economic malaise has lasted up until very recent years but with increasing tourism and a growing awareness of the town's unique heritage there are signs that finally life is returning to the town.
External links
http://www.ville-rochefort.fr ; the town's official website, in French
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochefort%2C_Charente-Maritime ; wikipedia entry on Rochefort
