The horse relay

The horse relay inn was set up in 1758 on the new layout of the road to Neufchâtel. The line via this relay reached Neufchâtel then Abbeville and Flanders. 

The first horse routes were created by Louis XI in 1464 but only for the king’s mail.

Later in 1603 Henri IV extended this service to individuals.

Coaches, mail coaches and stage coaches would ensure transport. Horses were driven by a postilion and/or a coachman. The postilion was mounted on a horse while the coachman sat on the towed vehicle. The postilion led the horses to the next relay and then returned with his horses, at pace, to the starting relay after the change of carriage. The relays were spaced 7 leagues apart in the early days, hence the 7-league boots of the postilion that Charles Perrault made famous. From the 18th century that distance was reduced to 4 leagues (about 16 km). The Vert Galant relay was located 15 km from that of Rouen, 14 km from the next relay (La Boissière near Saint Martin Osmonville) itself 15 km from Neufchâtel.

Postmasters ran relays, supervised stables, arranged for changes of carriage, did some farming and often ran the inn associated with the relay. For practice, a patent had to be bought which was transmitted from father to son or from husband to widow pending the majority of a son. This was the case of Marie Jeanne Morel, widow of Guillaume Gamare, who was postmistress at the Vert Galant after the death of the latter on January 26, 1778. Under the old regime, postmasters were granted certain privileges:

•  They were entitled to 100 acres of tax-free cultivation

•  They were exempt from tax (1).

•  They were exempt from housing people of war.

A 1788 tax statement for Marie Jeanne Morel shows the advantages granted to her. Her activity is supposed to bring her 2350 pounds from which 800 pounds can be knocked off, corresponding to the disposable income of the 100 acres cultivated, 1550 pounds remain to her which would have generated 106 pounds of tax had she not been exempted.

In 1793 Marie Jeanne Morel asked to be exempted from wheat requisitions because she fed many people, including soldiers of the Republic, in her relay inn but she was not heard.

Louis, Charles, Armand Gamare, son of Mrs. Morel Veuve Gamare, was head of post at the relay of Vert Galant after his mother. Another son Jacques was the last mayor of Pibeuf from 1808 to 1825.

The network became more important and in 1848 the Vert Galant had departures to Buchy, Forges-les-Eaux, Saint Saëns and to Abbeville, Amiens and Eu via Neufchâtel.

But the railway became increasingly important, Rouen-Dieppe opened in 1848 and Rouen-Amiens in 1867. The horse posts disappeared.

The Relais du Vert Galant would later be turned into a hotel, l’Auberge du Vert Galant.

(1)   taille: direct tax under the old regime.