L'îlot de La Boisselle

L'îlot de La Boisselle (French: ilôt meaning "small island") is a small, 3.12-hectare (7.7-acre) historic site in the commune of Ovillers-la-Boisselle in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France. L'îlot was heavily fought over during the First World War, when it was known as Granathof (German: "shell farm") to the Germans and as Glory Hole to British soldiers. The site is private property and not open to the public.

Located in the small village of La Boisselle, the site lies south of the D 929 Albert–Bapaume road and occupies a small area in the south-east of the village (see photographs). Once the location of a small number of houses, L'îlot is now covered with grass and shrubs and separated from the built over areas of the village by the rue Georges Cuvillier (D 104) leading to Contalmaison in the north and the route de Bécourt leading to Bécordel-Bécourt in the east.

La Boisselle is a settlement dating back to pre-Roman times. The D 929 Albert–Bapaume road follows the course of a Roman road. After the Battle of Bapaume during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), the village suffered serious damage. A farmstead that existed on the present L'îlot site was ruined during the war and eventually demolished in 1883 by its owners, the Berchon family. The farm was later rebuilt and expanded before the First World War; it was obliterated by the explosion of a German mine in 1915.

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