Founded in Gallo-Roman times between two arms of the Risle, on the Roman road linking Lisieux to Lillebonne, Pont Audemer became a place of trade and a renowned craft centre (tanners) in the Middle Ages. Very quickly, it started trading with England before the Hundred Years' War put a stop to it. At the beginning of the industrialisation era, English workers settled in Pont-Audemer and brought with them new leather tanning techniques. Later, English industrialists – such as Eliott, who introduced malleable iron for buckling, or Bayle, who set up a paper mill – were among the contributors to the town's prosperity.