On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, completed the first aerial crossing of the English Channel, landing in the woods south of Guînes, where a memorial column stands today.

Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of the Boulonnais and Calaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from there to the coast.

In the Dark Ages, according to legend, the territory of Guînes became the property of one Aigneric, Mayor of the Palace of the Burgundian king Théodebert II.

In 1180, Guînes was passed together with Ardres, Arras and Saint-Omer to the French crown as part of the dowry of Isabel of Hainaut when she married Philip II of France.

In 1360, the Treaty of Brétigny surrendered the city and its county to England and they eventually became part of the Pale of Calais, the last English possession in mainland France.

The inscription reads as follows, here translated into English: The Chemin de fer d'Anvin à Calais opened a railway station at Guînes in 1881.