Lens, France
LENS, FRANCE, a town of Northern France, in the department of Pasde-Calais, 13 m. N.N.E. of Arras by rail on the Deule and on the Lens canal. Pop. (1906) 27,692. Lens has important iron and steel foundries, and engineering works and manufactories of steel cables, and occupies a central position in the coalfields of the department. Two and a half miles W.S.W. lies Lievin (pop. 22,070), likewise a centre of the coalfield. In 1648 the neighbourhood of Lens was the scene of a celebrated victory gained by Louis II. of Bourbon, prince of Conde, over the Spaniards.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
