En lan de lincarnarian nee segour. mil ccc.xx.iiii. et neuf. fu comencé rest berfrop: et Es ans ensuiuas iusques en lan mil. ccc.xx.iiii. et xviii. fu fait et parfait. ou quel temps noble home mess. Guille de Bellengues rheunllier chambellen di Roy nostre Sire estoit cappitaine de reste ville. honorable home pourneu et sage Johan de la tuille bailly. et sire Guillaumealorge. Johan mustel. Guille de gaugy. Richart de sommery. Nicolae le roux. Gaultier campion, ronseillers de la Dicteville. et pierres hermes reseueur d'icelle.
Proceeding on, we ascend the tower of the belfry, by a flight of two hundred steps, at the top of which is the bell, with the following inscription:
†JE SUI: NOMME: ROUVEL: ROEJEN:
LE SENON: ME SJSE: SERE: REGAN:
DAMJENS: ME FJST†
We perceive by this inscription, that this bell was named Rouvel, and not Rembol, as tradition would have it; but it is better known under the name of the Cloche d'argent (silver bell), although not a grain of silver entered into the composition of it. It rings every night at nine o'clock. It also rings peals on occasion of any national rejoicings or public calamities. This bell was made in the year 1447; it was then called the horloge du Beffroi. The stone vault, which crosses the street, at the place still called porte Massacre (the murder gate) was erected in 1527. On each side of this arcade, we perceive the dial plates and medallions.
Under the Vault, in the centre, we see sculptures representing a shepherd tending sheep. On each of the sides, are other sheep grazing. To the left, and facing the old market place, we may read the following inscription: Animam suam ponit pro ovibus suis, which indicates sufficiently the allegory of this composition, if we did not also see on the opposite side these other words: Pastor bonus.
Beside the arcade, but nearer to the rue des Vergetiers, the tower of the Belfry rises. We perceive a platform at the top of the tower, surrounded by an iron railing, from whence is a view of the whole town. Above is a dome, surmounted by a small steeple.
THE COVERED MARKETS.
About the middle of the Xth century, Richard Ist, surnamed Sans-Peur, and third duke of Normandy, caused a palace to be erected on the Seine, which consisted of a large tower and served at the same time as a defence to the town. It was also the state prison. Henry Ist added several buildings. Several fortifications had been previously erected, the former being then called the Vielle-Tour (old Tower). This tower was destroyed by Philip-Augustus; it was there, according to the greater number of historians, that in 1204 the cruel John-Sans-Terre caused his nephew, Arthur of Britanny, to be confined, and murdered him with his own hand. The present halles (covered markets) occupy the greater portion of the site formerly occupied by the palace and the Vieille-Tour, which has left its name to the two markets we are presently going to speak of.
Those vast warehouses for different manufactures, called halles (or marts), were erected in the second half of the XIIIth century, about the time when Lewis IXth fixed the fifth enclosure of the town of Rouen. These marts are considered the most important in France. The most considerable portion, and also the most ancient of the whole building, is set apart for the sale of linen cloths. Its length is two hundred and seventy two feet, by fifty in breadth. The roof is supported by two rows of stone pillars. The two other marts, one for coton stuffs and the other for worsted stuffs and cloth, are each two hundred feet in length. These marts were open till about the year 1493, at which time they were enclosed, to prevent vagabonds taking shelter in them. The linen mart separates the market which is held on this place in to two unequal portions. The larger occupies the north side, and is called the place de la Haute-Vieille-Tour; it is reserved for the sale of old linen, old utensils and particularly for the sale of crockery and glass ware. The second occupies the south side, and is called the Basse-Vieille-Tour, because it is considerably lower than the other portion. Several kinds of eatables are sold here, especially fish.
There formerly existed a very beautiful fountain in the middle of the higher place, which was composed of a triangular pyramid, surmounted by a statue of Alexander; but not the least vestige of it remains. The present fountain is supplied with water from the Gaalor spring.