Doku — The Lost Chronicle · Episode 6 / 7

DokuSaint-Omer

Along the water

The Audomarois, in the Pas-de-Calais

Along the water, around Saint-Omer: the market gardeners' marsh and its bacôves, the town, its cathedral and the Shakespeare book in its library, the Fontinettes boat lift at Arques, then Thérouanne, the vanished town that archaeologists find again under the fields. Pip is in turn a little boatman, a little actor, a little bargee on holiday and a little archaeologist. Five mini-games wait for him, from the flowered bacôve to the dig square.

Chapters Mini-games

Drag the landscape: it turns, just like in the game.

The Mist

The Marsh Mist, made up for the game: the morning mist over the water, turned nasty by the Grey Mist. It wants everything to stop: the water in the watergangs, the town's clock, organ and bells, the ink in the books, the barges on the canal, and even the memory of Thérouanne, the vanished town.

chapters

mini-games

notebook species

The real history

What the episode tells

The Audomarois marsh is crossed by nearly 700 kilometres of waterways: between its ditches, the watergangs, lie gardens that could once be reached only by boat, on flat-bottomed bacôves pushed along with a pole. Its farming began in the 12th century, led by the abbeys, such as Clairmarais, founded in 1140; it has been a Ramsar site since 2008 and a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 2013. In Saint-Omer, the cathedral keeps a 16th-century astronomical clock that still works, the Italian-style theatre of the Moulin à café opened in 1840, and the library owns a Shakespeare First Folio (1623), recognised in 2014. At Arques, the Fontinettes boat lift, opened in 1888, raised and lowered barges by 13 metres in two water-filled tanks set on pistons, in place of a flight of five locks. Stopped in 1967, it is now the only boat lift in France, listed as a historic monument in 2014. Lastly, Thérouanne, probably the capital of the Morini, then a Gallo-Roman town and the seat of a vast bishopric in the Middle Ages, was entirely dismantled in 1553 on the orders of Charles V; archaeologists have been digging it since 1898.

Key dates

1
1140
Cistercian monks found Clairmarais abbey, at the edge of the marsh.
2
1553
Thérouanne is entirely dismantled on the orders of Charles V.
3
1623
Shakespeare's First Folio is published, 36 plays gathered by two actors from his company.
4
1840
The Italian-style theatre of Saint-Omer's town hall, the "Moulin à café", opens.
5
1888
The Fontinettes boat lift opens at Arques.
6
1898
Camille Enlart begins digging the cathedral of Thérouanne.
7
1967
The lift stops; a new lock replaces it.
8
2008
The Audomarois marsh receives the Ramsar label for wetlands of international importance.
9
2013
UNESCO designates the Audomarois marsh a biosphere reserve.
10
2014
A Shakespeare First Folio is recognised in the Saint-Omer library.

The chapters

Chapter by chapter

Chapter 1
The market gardeners' marsh
In the marsh of Saint-Omer, the Marsh Mist has laid a grey veil over the canals: the water has stopped flowing and the boats stay moored. Go from garden to garden… and bring the water back!
Pip is
a little boatman
He throws
water-lily pads
You cross
the Haut-Pont quarter and its quay, the lègres and their cauliflowers, a bacôve maker's workshop, the postman's watergangs, the Romelaëre ponds and their reeds, the ruins of Clairmarais abbey
The guardian (made up)
the Mist Cauliflower King
Chronicle pages
- 1140Monks from Clairvaux found the Cistercian abbey of Clairmarais, at the edge of the marsh. It was closed in 1791; its remains have been historic monuments since 1946.
- 2008The Audomarois marsh receives the Ramsar label, given to wetlands of international importance. Nearly 700 kilometres of waterways cross it: rivers and a dense network of ditches, the watergangs.
- still todayIn the old days, the marsh gardens could be reached only by boat. The market gardener had his bacôve, a flat-bottomed boat pushed with a pole, which could carry up to 3.5 tonnes of cauliflowers.
In the notebookEurasian bitternPikeWater soldier
Companion wonRainbloom
Chapter 2
The cathedral and the book
In Saint-Omer, the Marsh Mist has crept up into the town: the clock has stopped, the bells are silent and the ink is fading from the books. Yet tonight there's a Shakespeare play… Bring the words back!
Pip is
a little actor
He throws
bookmarks
You cross
the public garden on the old rampart, the formal French garden, the side of the cathedral, the Grand-Place and the Moulin à café, the Jesuit chapel, the library's heritage room
The guardian (made up)
the Mist Bookworm
Chronicle pages
- 1623Seven years after Shakespeare's death, two actors from his company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, publish the First Folio: 36 plays, 18 of which had never been printed, such as Macbeth, The Tempest and Julius Caesar.
- 2014At the library of the Saint-Omer area, Rémy Cordonnier recognises a Shakespeare First Folio, catalogued as an 18th-century book because its title page was missing. It is one of some 230 known copies in the world, and the second in France.
- 1840The town hall theatre, nicknamed the "Moulin à café" (the coffee grinder) for its dome, opens on 18 October 1840: an Italian-style theatre. Closed in 1973, it reopens in 2019, 46 years later.
In the notebookGinkgoPeregrine falconBarn owl
Companion wonCorneille
Chapter 3
The boat lift
In Arques, the Marsh Mist has jammed the boat lift: the barges are asleep along the canal and the little train has stopped puffing. Walk up the towpath and get the boats moving again!
Pip is
a little bargee on holiday
He throws
little life rings
You cross
the towpath of the Neufossé canal, the glassworks, the little station of the tourist train, the old flight of locks and the lock-keeper's house, the engine room, the foot of the lift
The guardian (made up)
the Great Mist Piston
Chronicle pages
- 1888The Fontinettes boat lift, at Arques, opens on 8 July 1888. It replaces a flight of five locks to climb the 13 metres between two parts of the canal.
- 1888 to 1967Two big water-filled tanks, each large enough for a barge, rest on pistons and balance each other. Thirty centimetres of water, about 64 tonnes, are added to the upper tank: it goes down, and the other comes up.
- 2014Stopped in 1967, when concrete was poured into its pistons and a new lock was opened, the lift is listed as a historic monument in 2014: it is the only boat lift in France.
In the notebookKingfisherEuropean eelGrey heron
Companion wonMousse
Chapter 4
The vanished town
In Thérouanne, the Marsh Mist wants the vanished town forgotten: it has buried the dig again and taken the digger. Find the town under the fields, layer after layer!
Pip is
a little archaeologist
He throws
brushes
You cross
the banks of the Lys and its mill, the Place de la Morinie and the House of Archaeology, the dig, the archaeologists' camp, the old ramparts, the archaeological garden of the cathedral
The guardian (made up)
the Mist Digger
Chronicle pages
- more than 2,000 years agoThérouanne, then called Tarvenna, is probably the capital of the Morini, a Gaulish people. After Julius Caesar's conquest, it becomes a thriving Gallo-Roman town.
- 1553The town is entirely dismantled on the orders of the emperor Charles V. The cathedral's memorial plaque bears a chronogram, "DeLetI MorInI" ("the Morini are destroyed"): its capital letters, M + D + L + I + I + I, add up to 1553.
- 1898Camille Enlart begins digging the cathedral; other archaeologists will follow until 2010. A 16th-century paved courtyard shows the ground level in 1553. Once studied, the remains were covered over again to protect them, and the site became a garden.
In the notebookCommon wall lizardEuropean moleEuropean hare
Companion wonPierrot

The mini-games

Another way to play

They open once their chapter is won: no fighting, no Mist, just a place and a skill.

Pip's bacôve
After the chapter “The market gardeners' marsh”
Pole Granny Lou's flowered bacôve from her garden to the nautical procession of the Haut-Pont!
What you learn
How a boat pushed with a pole moves: the pole does not push the water, it pushes against the bottom. Where the water is too deep to reach the bottom, it no longer moves the boat.
Pip's play
After the chapter “The cathedral and the book”
Tonight at the Moulin à café's theatre, Pip plays Puck, Shakespeare's mischievous sprite. Strike the three knocks… and on stage!
What you learn
In a French theatre, seen from the audience, the "garden side" (côté jardin) is the left of the stage and the "courtyard side" (côté cour) its right. The words come from the Salle des Machines of the Tuileries palace, built between a courtyard and a garden.
Pip's clock
After the chapter “The cathedral and the book”
In Saint-Omer's cathedral, the Mist has stopped the great astronomical clock. Wind up its weight, choose its wheels, set it to the right time… and it will go again!
What you learn
What makes an old clock go: a weight hanging from a cord gives it energy as it falls, and a small mechanism interrupts the fall at regular intervals.
Pip's barge
After the chapter “The boat lift”
Steer the barge with Granny Lou beside you, greet the people on the towpath, then work the boat lift yourself!
What you learn
How the Fontinettes lift worked: the two tanks, set on pistons, balance each other; the gates are closed, a 30-centimetre layer of water is added to the upper tank, and, now heavier, it goes down while the other comes up with its barge.
Pip's dig square
After the chapter “The vanished town”
Dig your very own square beside Inès the archaeologist: flat, layer after layer, from 1553 down to the Romans!
What you learn
How to read the ground of a dig: a layer is younger than the one it covers, and older than the one covering it. The deeper you go, the further back in time you travel.

With care

What the game makes up, what it doesn't show

Pip, Russet, Hoot, the Grimoire, the Marsh Mist, its Mistlings and its four guardians (a cauliflower king, a bookworm, a great piston, a digger) are made up, like Granny Lou and Inès the archaeologist. The real animals of the notebook are peaceful: you watch them without disturbing them, and neither hunting nor fishing is shown.
Nothing religious is staged: in the chapter, the cathedral is shown from outside, and its organ and its labyrinth are told by the pages; in the clock mini-game, you see only its wall, its window and the dial.
No war is shown: the end of Thérouanne in 1553 is told by a page, with no siege and no soldier. The cathedral of light that rises at the end of the chapter is a drawing, not a reconstruction.
Pip is never a child at work: he spends the summer on his family's barge and does not tow it; Granny Lou lends him the helm, and Inès the dig square, just for a game.
The routes are imagined, like the Shakespeare play performed "tonight" at the Moulin à café and the library's great book, drawn in strokes, with no real letters. The Fontinettes lift does not really work again: its pistons have been filled with concrete since 1967.

For real

Coming soon onGoogle PlayLater onApp Store

DokuSaint-Omer

What the episode tells

Key dates

Chapter by chapter

The market gardeners' marsh

Chronicle pages

The cathedral and the book

Chronicle pages

The boat lift

Chronicle pages

The vanished town

Chronicle pages

Another way to play

Pip's bacôve

Pip's play

Pip's clock

Pip's barge

Pip's dig square

What the game makes up, what it doesn't show

Go and see the places

La Maison du Marais

The Fontinettes boat lift

Saint-Omer area library

Thérouanne House of Archaeology