Part 4
_In the foreground: A German grave._
_The German First Line in the Glass-Works._]
On the north of the distillery, beyond “No man’s land” with its barbed-wire entanglements, a very important =glass-works= formed the first German line. Before the war, these glass-works turned out several millions of champagne bottles every year. _A heap of these bottles is visible in the photo below._
Between the buildings of these works, now completely ruined by the incessant bombardments, are countless passages and trenches of reinforced concrete, observation posts, blockhouses, concrete machine-gun positions and deep dug-outs.
[Illustration: THE GLASS-WORKS OF VAUXROT.
_In the background: Hill 136._]
[Illustration: THE BANKS OF THE AISNE.
_In the background: Chapel of the Glass-Works. To the left of the Chapel, a German Machine-Gun was posted, below a crane._]
From Vauxrot to Pasly, the lines were separated by the Aisne. On both banks of the river were outposts and advanced trenches with machine-guns (_photo below_).
_From Vauxrot, proceed to Pasly_ (_see map, p. _53).
From the church at Pasly there is an interesting walk to the caves seen in the photograph on p. 59 shutting in the horizon to the north of the village. _Follow the road for nearly half-a-mile, then turn to the right into the road which goes up the side of the hill and skirts the caves. The latter were fortified by the Germans, and afterwards inhabited by the population of Pasly._
[Illustration: THE DAM AT VAUXROT.
_A nest of Machine-Guns was posted near the pile._]
[Illustration: PASLY.
_On the horizon Hill containing caves._]
A =monument= to the school-teachers shot by the Germans in 1870, was destroyed by the enemy in 1914 (_photo below_).
[Illustration: SCHOOL-TEACHERS’ MONUMENT DESTROYED BY THE GERMANS AT PASLY. (_see above_)]
_The road leads back to the village. Return via Vauxrot to the Place de Laon, then follow on the left the Avenue de Laon to Saint-Paul._
The defence-works visited between Pasly, the glass-works and the distillery, extended from there in an almost straight and formidable entrenched line to the National Road from Paris to Maubeuge (N. 2).
[Illustration: ORGANIZED CAVE AT PASLY.]
After crossing this road, about half-way between Soissons and Crouy, they encircle the =hamlet of St-Paul= on the north and east. This fortified hamlet formed the =Saint-Paul salient= and protected the faubourg of Saint-Waast.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CAVE AT PASLY.]
From Saint-Paul the trenches, sloping towards the south, extended in front of the strongly fortified Faubourg of Saint-Médard and rejoined the Aisne at the point where the river forms a great loop above Soissons. It was the eastern sector of the defences, covering alike the Faubourg of Saint-Waast and the bridge-head on the right bank.
_To go from Saint-Paul to Saint-Médard, return to the Place de Laon. Take on the left the Boulevard de Laon, then the Boulevard de Metz which continues it, to the Place d’Alsace-Lorraine. Take the Rue de Bouvines on the left to the_ =Abbey of Saint-Médard=.
The Faubourg of Saint-Médard is as old as the town itself. In fact, it existed in the Roman era, and later became one of the favorite residences of the Merovingian Kings, who owned a large “villa” there.
[Illustration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE AISNE.
_This bridge connected Pasly with Soissons._]
[Illustration: IN THE ST-PAUL SALIENT.]
About 556, Clotaire I had the greatly revered Bishop of Noyon, Saint-Médard, buried in this villa, and erected over his grave a basilica, round which a monastery was built.
After playing an important part in the history of the early Middle-Ages, this monastery attracted 300 000 pilgrims as late as 1530. The buildings were devastated during the many sieges to which Soissons was subjected. Rebuilt in the 17th, they were converted in the 19th century into a school for deaf-mutes and the blind.
Of the ancient buildings, there remains only a =crypt=, one of the oldest in France and of great archæological interest.
Built in the 9th century and measuring about 80 feet in length, 8 feet in width and 13 feet in height, this crypt (_photo below_) includes a central gallery with groined vault, off which open chapels.
The vaulting rests on very thick walls, in which small niches have been hollowed out as seats for the pilgrims.
[Illustration: THE CRYPT OF ST-MÉDARD.
_One of the oldest crypts in France._]
[Illustration: CHURCH OF ST-WAAST IN 1917.]
_Return to the Place d’Alsace-Lorraine, take the Rue du Champ-Bouillant as far as the first street on the right_ (_Rue Messire-P.-Leroy_) _which leads to the_ =Church of Saint-Waast=.
[Illustration: FAUBOURG ST-WAAST.
_Defence-Works in the Rue des Graviers, near the Church_ (_see Itinerary_).]
The church of Saint-Waast, built in the 19th century, consists of a large central pile with aisles on each side of the nave. A graceful belfry, ending in a spire, rises over the portal. The interior of the building is not vaulted, but has a timber-work roof. The arches are supported by square pillars and the walls ornamented with pictures.
The bombardments did great damage. Everywhere the roof was broken in and a large part completely destroyed. In the walls are numerous gaps, while the façade is pitted by shell-splinters. The belfry, very badly damaged on the first story, had two of its sides in the upper story completely demolished. The spire fell down in 1918. The interior of the main building suffered less, but the timber-work roof was badly damaged.
The Faubourg Saint-Waast led to the first lines of the north-east sector of Soissons, which passed north of the hamlet of Saint-Paul.
Because of its situation, it had been put in a complete state of defence and was continually bombarded. The railway station, gas-works and most of the factories were destroyed. In places, it is nothing more than a heap of ruins with, here and there, vestiges of the old military works.
_Return to the Rue du Champ-Bouillant, follow same as far as the Aisne, crossing the latter at the Pont Saint-Waast._
[Illustration: THE PONT ST-WAAST OR PONT DES ANGLAIS.
_In the background, the Pont-Neuf, Sep^t. 1914._]
The pont Saint-Waast, also called the Pont des Anglais (since the war) dates from the Middle-Ages (_photo above_). Of the original structure there remain the arches on the Saint-Waast side (restored). The rest of the bridge consists of an iron platform which the Germans destroyed on September 13, 1914, when they evacuated the town.
Rebuilt by the British in 1914, together with a foot-bridge, it ensured communication between the centre of the town and the Faubourg Saint-Waast, in spite of incessant bombardments.
_Return to the Cathedral by the Rue la Bannière, Rue de Montrevers, and Rue de l’Hôtel-Dieu._
CONTENTS
=Chief Historical Facts= 2
=First German Occupation=, 1914 4
=Second German Occupation=, 1918 7
=The Bombardments= 10
=A Thirty-Months’ Siege= 11
VISIT TO THE CITY
=The Cathedral= 15–31
=St-Léger Church= 35–39
=The Hôtel-de-Ville= 40–41
=St-Pierre-au-Parvis Church= 42
=Maison de l’Arquebuse= 43
=St-Jean-des-Vignes Abbey= 44–50
VISIT TO THE SURROUNDINGS
=St-Crépin-en-Chaye Château= 53
=Vauxrot-Pasly= 56–60
=Saint-Paul—Saint-Médard= 60–61
=Faubourg St-Waast= 62–63
[Illustration: STREET DEFENCE-WORKS IN THE FAUBOURG ST-WAAST.]
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[Illustration: _Why ask the Way, when_ ...]
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Transcriber’s Notes.
1. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors.
2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
3. Some of the illustrations have been moved to be closer to their descriptions.
4. In this eBook some illustrations have been moved to other pages. The text has been changed where necessary.