L'AIGUILLON SUR MER

Our History

Burnham-on-Crouch is twinned with a town in France called L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer. The towns have been twinned since May 1980 and since then there have been many exchange visits between the two communities over the years. The aim of Twinning is to promote friendship between the communities and encourage visits from families and groups to share cultural, educational and recreational activities.

As a mark of the established link between the two towns, Burnham has a Twinning Garden outside Warwick Court and L’Aiguillon has Square Burnham-on-Crouch which has a working traditional red British phone box!

twin town 1

L’Aiguillon sur Mer

L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer was chosen as our Twin Town as it has many similarities to Burnham-on-Crouch.  It is a small picturesque fishing port in the Vendee Region on the west coast, about twenty kilometres northwards as the crow flies from La Rochelle. The port at L’Aiguillon was created in the 11th century and during the Ancien regime, the best canoneers of the coastguard militia were recruited here.

Twin town 3

Today it is an important centre for fishing and the cultivation of oysters and mussels. At low tide, rows of stakes can be seen off the coast marking out the oyster grounds. These are called bouchots giving the name to the “moule de Bouchot” which are well known throughout France.

twin town 2

There are opportunities for country walks and also a bird sanctuary. Sailing and surfboarding, tennis, horse riding, boules and mini golf are also available.

The seaside resort of La Faute-sur-Mer is adjacent to L’Aiguillon to the west. La Faute has ten kilometres of sandy beaches backed by a pine forest. It is joined to L’Aiguillon by a bridge over the River Lay.

L’Aiguillon has interesting shopping and a fine fish market of some renown.  

All this and more can be viewed on their excellent web-site at www.laiguillonsurmer.fr which has English text available.

Twinning Association

From 1980  Burnham on Crouch Twinning Association organised exchange visits and other activity but sadly in August 2015 this organisation was dissolved and so exchanges are now organised by individuals or via Burnham on Crouch Town Council.