Saint-Léger Church

The Saint-Léger church is a Catholic parish church located in Delincourt, Oise, France. It replaces an older building, but its nave nevertheless dates back as far as the late eleventh or early twelfth century. Remodeling in the 18th century took away its authenticity, and the arcades of the exceptional early 13th century porch were then blocked. The eastern parts of the church are still interesting, and are of a refined architecture. They were built by the chapter of the royal collegiate church of Saint-Mellon in Pontoise, which was the patron of the parish under the Ancien Régime. The transept and the choir are of primitive Gothic style, but their rib vaults and their particularly remarkable capitals evoke the late Romanesque style. They date from the third quarter of the 12th century. The central bell tower, which rises above the transept crossing, was not completed until the beginning of the 13th century, and is more resolutely Gothic. It is especially attractive because of its well-defined dimensions. Soon after its completion, the church was enlarged by the addition of two side aisles to the north and south of the choir. Their vaults were only made afterwards, or were redone, around the beginning of the 14th century, and two of the windows with fillings date from the same period. The substance, however, seems much older. The church of Saint-Léger underwent a final enlargement during the French Revolution in 1792, when the choir was extended to the east by a canted apse, whose vault must have been rebuilt in wood around 1860. The Romanesque capitals are classified as historical monuments by order of November 5, 1911. The rest of the Saint-Léger church is listed as a historical monument by order of April 12, 1926, except for the nave. It is now affiliated with the parish of Saint-François-d'Assise du Vexin with headquarters in Chaumont-en-Vexin, which has suspended the celebration of Sunday masses in 2018.