thumb|Location within [[France]]

In the Pays de Caux, Normandy, France a valleuse is a depression in the land surface of the plateau which permits access to the sea; it is sometimes translated into English as a "cliff hallow." On the rest of this coast, that access is prevented by the height of the chalk cliffs.

There are three (major) sorts:

  • living valleuse (valleuse vive): a natural depression as at Fécamp, Yport and Étretat.
  • dead valleuse (valleuse morte): to obtain the final access to the beach it is necessary to set up a stairway.
  • perched valleuse (valleuse perchée): a simple depression in the plateau surface which do not descend far enough to permit access to the beach. Elsewhere, it might be called a hanging valley though it is formed, not by a glacier but by maritime erosion.

There are also three types by stratigraphy:

  1. Simple,
  2. Resistant pedestal, and
  3. Complex.