Chepstow
a town and port in England, Monmouthshire, on the Wye, 14 miles N. by W. of Bristol. The high tides of the Wye allow large ships to reach the town, which is very ancient, and has a castle, portions of which date back to the Conquest.
CHER (shãr), a department of a central France, named from the river Cher, and formed from part of the old provinces of Berry and Bourbonnais; area, 2,819 square miles; capital, Bourges. The surface is in general flat, but is diversified in the N. by chains of inconsiderable hills. Soil various, but fertile in the neighborhood of the Loire and Allier. The forests and pastures are extensive. More grain and wine are produced than the demands of the inhabitants require. The preparations and manufacture of iron, called Berry-iron, is the principal branch of industry.
Pop. about 335,000.
CHERASCO (ker-askō), a walled town in the province of Cuneo, north Italy, 37 miles S. S. E. of Turin. It markets grain, wine, and truffles. During the Middle Ages Cherasco was one of the chief fortresses of north Italy, but its works were destroyed by the French in 1801. A peace was concluded here between Louis XIII. of France and the Duke of Savoy in 1631, and another between the Sardinian commissioners and Napoleon in 1796. Pop. about 10,000.
CHERBOURG (shar-börg), a fortified seaport and naval arsenal of France, in the department of La Manche, CHERBULIEZ 196 miles W. N. W. of Paris. It is the headquarters of one of the five maritime arrondissements of France and one of the chief torpedo stations. The fortifications are very extensive, and have been greatly strengthened in recent times, so that Cherbourg, if not impregnable from the sea, is at least very difficult of attack. The port is divided into the commercial and naval ports, which are quite distinct. The Port Militaire is accessible at all times of tide for vessels of the largest class; there are slips for vessels of the largest dimensions, dry docks, building-sheds, mast-houses, houses, boiler-works, and in short everything necessary for the building and fitting out of ships of war. There is a great digue breakwater, stretching across the roadstead, which, though protected on three sides by the land, was formerly open to the heavy seas from the north. The digue was commenced under Louis XVI., is 4,120 yards long, and is 21/4 miles from the harbor, in water varying from 42 to 62 feet deep. A fort and lighthouse occupy the center of the digue, and there are circular forts at the extremities. The principal industry of the town is centered in the works of the dock-yard, the commercial trade and manufactures being comparatively insignificant, although it is a port of call of several of the largest French, British and American passenger steamship lines. Cherbourg occupies the site of a Roman station. William the Conqueror founded a hospital in it, and built the castle church. The castle, in which Henry II. frequently resided, was one of the strongholds of Normandy. The town was taken by the British in 1758. During the World War it was of great importance as a military and naval port.
Pop. about 45,000. a