Rouen-Les-Essarts opened in 1950 and was quickly recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, featuring modern pits, a wide track, and spectator grandstands. The street circuit's appeal lay in its dramatic topography: a cobbled hairpin turn known as Nouveau Monde sat at the southernmost tip, while the climb from Nouveau Monde at 56 metres to Gresil at 149 metres featured gradients exceeding nine percent. Blind corners through the wooded hillside added to both the spectacle and the danger. The name "Les Essarts" derives from a village incorporated into the commune of Grand-Couronne in 1874.
From its construction in 1950 until 1954, Rouen-Les-Essarts measured 5.100 km (3.169 mi) in length. This initial layout established the fundamental character of the circuit — the sweeping descents, the elevation change through the wooded section, and the cobbled Nouveau Monde hairpin — that made it distinctive among European venues of the period.
In 1955, major works significantly extended the circuit to its most famous configuration at 6.542 km (4.065 mi). This longer layout hosted four of the five Formula One French Grand Prix races held at Rouen, and represented the circuit at its most celebrated. The extended length amplified the already formidable gradient changes and introduced additional sweeping sections that tested drivers through the full range of their car's capabilities.
Construction of a new autoroute across the circuit forced the building of a new section of track and reduced the overall length to 5.543 km (3.444 mi). This shorter layout was in use for the 1968 French Grand Prix, which became the most tragic event in the circuit's history. Jo Schlesser was fatally burned at the fast downhill Six Freres curve, an incident that cast a long shadow over the venue's reputation.
In 1974, a permanent chicane was built at Six Freres, directly addressing the section where the 1968 fatality had occurred. With the addition of this chicane, that part of the circuit was renamed Des Roches. This final configuration saw the circuit through its remaining years of use, including major Formula Two events until 1978 and various French national championship meetings thereafter.
The circuit was closed in 1994 for economic and safety reasons, as organizing races on public roads to meet modern safety standards had become increasingly impractical. In 1999, following closure, all physical evidence of the circuit's racing past was demolished, including grandstands, pits, Armco barriers, and track signage. The cobbled Nouveau Monde hairpin was asphalted, though the original circuit configuration remains traceable by road.
Rouen-Les-Essarts hosted five Formula One French Grand Prix races in total, with its multiple configurations spanning the full arc of postwar grand prix racing from the early 1950s through the late 1960s. Its dramatic elevation changes and wooded setting made it one of the most celebrated natural road circuits in European motorsport history, and the existence of distinct configurations across different decades means its record is closely tied to which layout was in use at any given time.