ABBEVILLE, a city of France, capital of the arrondissement of the same name, situate in a pleasant and fertile valley on both sides of the river Somme, 12 miles above its mouth, and 25 miles N.W. of Amiens. This town, which is strongly fortified on Vauban's system, is neat and well built, and has several bridges, squares, and churches, one of them, St. Wulfram's, very antique and curious. A cloth manufactory was established here by Van Robais, a Dutchman, under the patronage of the minister Colbert, as early as 1669; and since that time Abbeville has continued to be one of the most thriving manufacturing towns in France. Besides black cloths of the best quality, there are produced velvets, cottons, linens, serges, sackings, hosiery, packthread, jewelry, soap, glass-ware, &c. It has also establishments for spinning wool, print-works, bleaching-works, tanneries, a paper manufactory, &c.; and being situate in the centre of a fruitful district, it has a considerable trade with the surrounding country. By help of the tides, vessels of 150 tons come up to the town. According to the census of 1846, it had a population of 17,035. A treaty was concluded here in 1225, between Henry III. of England and Louis IX. of France, by which the province of Guienne was ceded to the English. Lat. 50. 7. 4. N. Long. 1. 59. 58. E.
ABBEVILLE
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