Welcome to the website dedicated to the Butte de Warlencourt, an iconic site which is located on the World War One Somme battlefields situated close to the town of Bapaume in the Pas de Calais department in Northern France. Originating from Roman times, the Butte (French for ‘hill’) is a mound some sixty feet high which in WW1 was held by the Germans at the end of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and in a fashion, marked the final line of the British advance on the Somme.
Visitors are more than welcomed to the Butte. There is a map at the bottom on this page showing its exact location which is opposite the village of Warlencourt, some three miles from Bapaume on the D929 Albert to Bapaume road. Admission is free and there is ample car parking available metres from the main gate. Various information boards are located on the walkway after entering and also on the summit where an orientation board and the memorial are also located. Access to the summit for its breathtaking views of the battlefields is by the newly renovated walkway, however due to the hilly nature of the site, access may not be suitable for everyone. There are four rest benches on the site where visitors can sit and have a coffee or picnic or just simply reflect on the various actions that happened here over 100 years ago. Entrance to the site is at an individuals own risk and visitors must stay within the dedicated handrail area.
Custodian of the site has recently been taken over by Rick Smith and Terry Berry, who are familiar faces on the battlefields. If you are interested in the site and would like to contribute to it’s upkeep, then please see our Associates pages. All funds go towards maintaining the site itself, and providing information to help people learn about it, such as this website. Our History pages contain information about the site prior to the First World War, details of when the conflict arrived at the Bapaume area, and the attacks during 1916, as well as articles exploring the wider conflict and the memorials which came after.
Please do contact us for further information, or if you would like to arrange a tour of the site and surrounding area. We can be contacted at info@buttedewarlencourt.com, and you can also follow our Facebook page.
To view the site from your armchair, here’s a video produced by Steve Kerr, a good friend of the site.