Le port et les quais de Taillebourg

Built on the right bank of the river, Taillebourg owes its prosperity to the Charente River. The village became a river port in the Middle Ages. In the 15th century, records show that grain and wood were shipped to Rochefort for shipbuilding from the port of Taillebourg, where salt from Tonnay-Charente arrived. In 1750, 27 barges and 4 boats were registered in this port. But it was mainly in the 19th century, particularly during the golden age of cognac, that port traffic reached its peak, when barges transported cognac brandy to Tonnay-Charente, then the leading shipper of this fine spirit. Construction timber, firewood (for the towns of Rochefort and La Rochelle), wine, stone and other local products were also transported. In 1840, the state of the port of Taillebourg was deemed deplorable and it gradually lost its importance. The Cognac-Rochefort railway line in 1867 and the Saint-Jean d'Angély-Taillebourg line, which came into service in 1878, quickly began to compete with navigation on the Charente. At the beginning of the 20th century, the port declined and was devoted to recreational boating and cruise navigation, with boats travelling up from Saintes, the main embarkation point for cruise boats. The names of the streets and squares in the surrounding area bear witness to this port activity: Quai des Gabariers, Rue des Pêcheurs, Place du Pontier, Rue du Port and Rue des Mariniers. Since 2001, underwater surveys have uncovered artefacts from the Merovingian and Carolingian periods, which contrasts with the archaeological map of the banks, which show relatively little occupation during the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries).