International work and strategy

St Quentin

Rotherham's official twin town is St Quentin in North East France. Since the Twinning Declaration was signed in 1990, the links between the two towns have gone from strength to strength.

There is now a programme of visits and exchanges taking place each year, including:

• school exchanges
• joint sporting events
• conferences
• exhibitions

St Quentin is in the Picardy region of France, situated halfway between Paris and Brussels. The town was almost completely rebuilt after the destruction of world war I, although some important buildings such as the town hall survived.

There is a nature reserve in the town which is home to many different species of birds and flowers and is popular with walkers and families.

The skyline is dominated by the impressive gothic basilica which can be seen for miles around. It was built at the beginning of the 18th Century and in 1993 was the setting for the Oscar winning film 'La Reine Margot'.

Visit the St Quentin Website 

Twinning Declaration

The Twinning Declaration was signed in 1990 and is on display in Rotherham Town Hall.

"We the representatives of Rotherham and St. Quentin, freely elected by the citizens of our towns, confident that we are responding to the wishes, aspirations and needs of the inhabitants of our towns, knowing that our countries have a high regard for freedom and are the cradles of our western civilisation; considering that the movement of history must proceed in an enlarged world which will only be really humane when all men live free in free cities; in this day we take the solemn oath to maintain permanent links between the municipalities of our towns, to favour all manners of exchanges between our citizens in order to develop, through a greater understanding, the living feeling of a European brotherhood, to unite our efforts in order to give the greatest possible help, within our means, to the success of this necessary enterprise for peace and prosperity which is: the European unity."

Written at St. Quentin - 26 March 1990