A small stream, known as the Hames river, witch could be forded at low-tide, flowed out here after breaching a shingle bank called " Les Pierrettes ". The place was called Neuma Cove. A bridge, significant in the defence of the town, with a tollgate, was established later. In 1525 an English fortress protected a system of locks capable of flooding the countryside in the event of attack. The Duke of Guise captured the fortress on january 2^nd, 1558. Vauban drew up the plans of the present fort, strdding the river, in 1677. A commanding tactical site for the protection of Calais with the three locks it was occupied by 28 officers and 480 soldiers. With its thick walls and built on piles it is possibly the only surviving Vauban lock-fort in France. Althrough by then obsolete it nevertheless delayed the German advance in 1940.