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{{Moreinline|date=February 2024}}{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Bolbec
|commune status         = [[Communes of France|Commune]]
|image coat of arms     = Blason ville fr Bolbec (Seine-Maritime).svg
|image                  = Mairie de Bolbec.jpg
|caption                = Town hall
|arrondissement         = Le Havre
|canton                 = Bolbec
|INSEE                  = 76114
|postal code            = 76210
|mayor                  = Christophe Doré<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|publisher=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=13 September 2022|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|intercommunality       = [[Caux Seine Agglo]]
|coordinates            = {{coord|49.57|0.47|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            = 129
|elevation min m        = 29
|elevation max m        = 142
|area km2               = 12.24
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}

'''Bolbec''' ({{IPA|fr|bɔlbɛk}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Seine-Maritime]] [[Departments of France|department]] in the [[Normandy (administrative region)|Normandy]] [[Regions of France|region]] in northern [[France]]. Its inhabitants are called ''Bolbécais'' or ''Bolbécaises''.

==Geography==
A [[farming]], [[quarrying]] and [[light industry|light industrial]] town situated at the heart of three valleys in the [[Pays de Caux]], some {{convert|19|mi|km}} northeast of [[Le Havre]]. It is the source of the river [[Commerce (river)|Commerce]], though here it is known as the river Bolbec. The town has many small lanes (''ruelles'') with some pretty houses.

==History==
The first written record of the town dates from the end of the 11th century, as ''Bolebec''. Archeological discoveries indicate that the site has been inhabited since ancient times. The first lord of Bolbec was [[Osbern de Bolbec]] (around 992) and the last was the Duc de Charost who was executed during the [[French Revolution]]. Through the [[Normans|Norman]] family of de Bolbec, the town gives its name to the village of [[Swaffham Bulbeck]] in Cambridgeshire, England.<ref name=WareWrig02>{{Cite book |last1=Wareham |first1=A.F. |last2=Wright |first2=A.P.M. |date=2002 |contribution=Swaffham Bulbeck: Manors |title=A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 10, Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire) |pages=252–258 |publication-place=London |publisher=Victoria County History |contribution-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/cambs/vol10/pp252-258 |access-date=2018-03-12 |name-list-style=amp }}</ref>

[[Image:Ruelle parallèle à rue de la république Bolbec.JPG|150px|left|thumb|Ruelle Papavoine]]
Bolbec developed thanks to the numerous mills which lined the river banks through the town. These mills, numbering 14 in the middle of the 19th century, allowed the development of a textile industry based on water power, and later steam, to power the machinery.

Today, only three mills remain: one at the source of the river in the grounds of the Oril factory; one at Vallot; and one in the Ruelle Papavoine.

At the end of the 18th century, a number of manufacturers installed themselves in Bolbec to produce "Indiennes" (printed textiles). On the eve of the Revolution, Bolbec had 18 factories. In 1806, there were 27 producing ''Indiennes'' employing nearly 800 workers.

The importance of textiles in the Bolbec Valley was recognised by the state with the creation of the ''Chambre des Arts et Manufactures'' in 1806 (which became the Chamber of Commerce and Industry) and further, with the creation of a ''Conseil des Prud'hommes'' in 1813. However, over the years the textile industry suffered economic crises and by the end of the 19th century there was just one ''indiennerie'' remaining.

Bolbec is the last French town in which [[Thomas Jefferson]], his family, and Sally and James Hemings stayed in 1789 prior to their arrival in Le Havre to return to America after their time in Paris.

===Bolbec today===
Little remains of the textile history of the town. A single former factory remains, that of the Desgenétais works, closed in 1986. In effect, this site is the last witness of the impact of the textile factories on Bolbec town planning: school, creche, chapel, workers' and foremen's houses… The site provides an exceptional insight into the epoch.<ref>[http://www.ville-bolbec.fr/?page=statique&pid=6=Site Bolbec official website], accessed 29 August 2008 {{in lang|fr}}</ref>
[[Image:Usine desgenetais.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Desgenétais factory]]
{{clear}}

===Heraldry===
{{Blazon-arms
|img1=Blason ville fr Bolbec (Seine-Maritime).svg
|legend1=Arms of Bolbec
|text=The arms of Bolbec are [[blazon]]ed :<br />''Gules, 3 shuttles argent, on a chief azure 3 fleurs de lys Or.''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newgaso.fr/lecture_fiche_commune.php3?page=f76114|title=Banque du blason|access-date=2009-11-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081209211907/http://www.newgaso.fr/lecture_fiche_commune.php3?page=f76114|archive-date=2008-12-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

==Population==
{{Historical populations
|source = INSEE<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-76114#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
|percentages = pagr
|align = none
|graph-pos = right
|1968 |12716
|1975 |12555
|1982 |12461
|1990 |12372
|1999 |12588
|2007 |11917
|2012 |11753
|2017 |11417
}}

==Economy==
Bolbec is the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Bolbec - Lillebonne.

===Industry===
The principal employers in Bolbec are Oril Industrie, part of the Servier Pharmaceutical group,<ref>[http://www.servier.fr/pro/html_news_home/bolbec.asp Le groupe Servier & Bolbec "150 millions d'euros investis..."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120174901/http://www.servier.fr/pro/html_news_home/bolbec.asp |date=November 20, 2008 }}, Groupe Servier website, accessed 29 August 2008 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> and Cooper Standard Automotive,<ref>[http://www.cooperstandard.com/locations.php#body_chassis_locations Locations] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080830035303/http://www.cooperstandard.com/locations.php#body_chassis_locations |date=August 30, 2008 }} Cooper-Standard Automotive website, accessed 29 August 2008</ref> automobile equipment manufacturers specialising in waterproofing<ref>[http://www.anpe.fr/region/haute_normandie/point_reperes/par_zones/fecamp_lillebonne_1155.html ANPE zone Fécamp Lillebonne] {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

==Sights==
* Saint-Michel Church
* Manoir de Cailletot
* Mills: Moulins Seminel et du Vallot
* Château du Val au Grès

==Notable people==
* [[François Amable Ruffin]], (1771–1811), general
* [[Richard Charles Blondel]], (born 1827), general<ref>[http://www.patrimoine-de-france.org/hommes/honneurs-45.html Recensement du patrimoine de France] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926064614/http://www.patrimoine-de-france.org/hommes/honneurs-45.html |date=September 26, 2008 }} {{in lang|fr}}
</ref>
* [[Marion Gilbert]], (1876–1951), writer
* [[Jacques Prevel]], (1915–1951), poet
* [[Dominique Noguez]], born 1942, writer
* [[Jacques Caudebec]], (1664–1766), Huguenot Settler in America

==Twin towns==
* {{Flag|Germany}} [[Ostercappeln]]
* {{Flag|Germany}} [[Bad Essen]]
* {{Flag|Germany}} [[Bohmte]]

==See also==
*[[Communes of the Seine-Maritime department]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Edouard-Ferdinand Collen-Castaigne, ''Essai historique et statistique sur la ville de Bolbec'', [[Rouen]], 1839
* Gustave F Mauconduit, ''Histoire des rues de Bolbec'', [[Rouen]], 1887
* Pierre Dardel, ''Les Manufactures de toiles peintes et de serges imprimées à [[Rouen]] et à Bolbec aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles'', [[Rouen]], 1940
* Jacques Vauquelin, ''La libération de Bolbec (Aout-Septembre 1954)'', Bolbec, 1969
* Jacques Vauquelin, ''Bolbec, ses rues… ses places…'', Bolbec, 1970
* Jacques Vauquelin, ''Bolbec et son histoire…'', Bolbec, 1974
* Jacques Vauquelin, ''Chateaux - Manoirs - Monuments et Sites de la région Bolbécaise'', Bolbec, 1977
* ''Bolbec. Les hôtels de ville, les statues du jardin public'', 1982
* Collège Roncherolles / L.E.P. Pierre de Coubertin, ''Bolbec et son canton <<Boulbai et son canton>>'', Bolbec, 1982
* Alain Avenel et Raymond Bernard, ''Splendeur des indiennes bolbécaises'', Bolbec, 1996
* Raymond Bernard, ''Bolbec. Ses rues d'hier à aujourd'hui'', 2003
* Alain Gilles / Jean-Marc Derrien, ''Bolbec dans les années 1900 - 1 - Monuments, lieux publics, gare, rues...'', 2004
* Alain Gilles / Jean-Marc Derrien, ''Bolbec de 1900 à 2000 - 3 - Travail et distractions des Bolbécais(es), biographie de Léon Desgenétais, sports, divers...'', 2006
* Raymond Bernard, ''Bolbec. Ses écoles d'hier à aujourd'hui'', 2006
* Philippe Delacroix, ''C.C.P.W.E n° 23. Le camp de prisonniers de guerre allemands de Bolbec (février 1945 - Août 1946)''

{{Commons category|Bolbec}}

{{Seine-Maritime communes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Communes of Seine-Maritime]]