St. Martin's Church

The Saint-Martin church is a Catholic parish church located in Bonneuil-en-Valois, Oise, France. It is a cruciform building with a basilica nave, which dates largely from the 12th century. Its silhouette is quite emblematic of the churches of this period in the region, and has been little affected by alterations, except for the reconstruction of the aisle walls in the second quarter of the 16th century in the flamboyant gothic style. The oldest parts of the church are Romanesque, dating back to around 1120: the western facade of the nave with its portal, the first three large arcades to the north of the nave with the high windows, and the lateral bell tower to the north of the choir with its double-storey belfry, the base of which is still barrel-vaulted. The position of the bell tower is responsible for an irregularity: to the north, the choir is flanked by a very small chapel, and to the south, by a large chapel forming a cross. Both are in Gothic style, but the first one can be dated to the last quarter of the 12th century, and the second one to around 1200. Contemporary to the northern chapel is the apse, which is rectangular in plan and ends in a flat chevet. It is the most remarkable part of the church. Its ogives are decorated with tiny violet flowers. Its windows are surrounded, inside, by a double toric archivolt, which falls on two pairs of columns with capitals. Their bases are animated by plated arcatures. In contrast with the balance of the sanctuary, the fore-choir was obliterated by two successive remodels in the 16th century, concerning the vault and then the supports. More fortunate was the result of the restoration of the large arches to the south of the nave in the Renaissance style, in union with a sketch of an ogival vaulting, which however remained a dead letter: the nave thus remains panelled, and the aisles are with visible framework. Quite striking is the dissymmetry of the two lateral elevations of the nave, where the three high Renaissance arches face three very low Romanesque arches, topped by a floor of high windows, and a wide flamboyant arch. Despite its imbalance inside, the church of Saint-Martin remains a remarkable building of definite interest, and was classified as a historical monument by order of January 20, 1913. Its complete restoration was launched in 2014. Bonneuil-en-Valois is now affiliated with the parish of Saint-Sébastien de Crépy-en-Valois, and Sunday masses are celebrated there about every two months, at 11:00 am.