Le Bois des Communes

On the coastal path, Bois des Communes lies at the top of a cliff facing the English Channel. The special feature of this site is that a few hectares are home to a peaty woodland, ponds and moorland similar to those found in Brittany. These environments attract dragonflies and remarkable amphibians (frogs, newts and salamanders). Like Cap d'Ailly, the subsoil features original geological formations, leading to frequent landslides towards the sea, creating frettes (small unstable cliffs), a distinctive coastal landscape.
A former communal pasture where local residents used to graze their cattle, the Bois des Communes was also mined for the subsoil gravel used for roadworks and housing. Traces of this are still visible today. As the various uses of the site were abandoned, the moor gradually closed in, leading to the disappearance of characteristic plant and animal species. Restoration of the site since 1993 has enabled a gradual return of the heathland.
The site is owned by the Commune de Varengeville-sur-Mer and managed by the Département de la Seine-Maritime in partnership with the Agglomération Dieppe-Maritime.