16, La Bruyere, St Martin du Vieux Belleme, 61130, Normandy, France

St Martin church: the historical account

This church has long been the church of the Benedictine abbey of "Pricure" a dependency of the abbey of Marmoutier near Tours. Before the Revolution, the nunnary had already disappeared, because of the lack of vocations.

The building was retained as a parish church, but on 18 May 1847 a hurricane destroyed the structure and the vault. There was discussion to build another church at "Gue de la Chaine" which was then a dependency of St. Martin, and well placed close to the main highway. The inhabitants of the village of Saint Martin succeeded in keeping a church in their village. Part of the church was restored in 1858 under the direction of Robert Rupricht. The nave was removed from the tower. one can see still in front of the church the ancient walls. The actual church is the old choir of the monks. Initially this Romanesque church had rounded open arched windows form the eleventh to twelfth centuries. The tower dates from the same time. Then everything was changed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with large Gothic windows. The interior was restored in the last century following the latest style of the period. The interior restoration that the town has performed involved stripping the surfaces to discover the ancient walls and some basic openings which had been hidden by the plaster.

The stalls are of the seventeenth century, with the movable seats called "Misericordes" which are carved and decorated with images, heads, etc.. The pulpit is of Luis XVI style with carved panels.

At the bottom of the church, near the door of the church tower, a statue of St. Anne, in stone, from the sixteenth century, was repainted probably in the last century.

In the sacristy, near the centre, there are frescoes from the sixteenth century still remaining. We see a crucifixion, the crowning of the Virgin and a face, devils and musicians.

Last updated 29/6/2009