Let’s climb Mont Faucon!

Situated on a hillside not far from Cerny-en-Laonnois, this site is a major centre of British remembrance of the Great War. It is the final resting place of 728 British soldiers, serving as a reminder not only that British troops were involved in the Chemin des Dames from as early as September 1914, but also that they suffered heavy losses there in 1918 during the Ludendorff Offensive in the sector...  

The original church, dating from the Middle Ages – it appears that vines were already being cultivated in this parish as early as the 9th century – was severely damaged in 1917, before being completely razed to the ground in 1918. The church you see today was rebuilt, not without difficulty, in the 1930s by architects based nearby, in Bourg-et-Comin. It is also worth noting that the adjoining cemetery contains further graves of French and British soldiers, and that the commune was formed by the merger of two villages in 1923 (this is how the communes of Vendresse-Troyon and Beaulne-Chivy were brought together to become Vendresse-Beaulne).