Église Saint-Léger et Sainte-Agnès, Agnetz

The Saint-Léger and Sainte-Agnès d'Agnetz church is a Catholic parish church located in Agnetz, a village in the center of the Oise department, in the Hauts-de-France region of France. The church surprises by the size of its volumes and its slender character, which do not seem to correspond to the small size of the town, but which can be explained in part by a larger territory in the past. Construction began around 1230 with the aisles, which, despite the advanced date, still evoke the early Gothic style. The upper parts of the nave were completed around the middle of the 13th century and display a radiant Gothic style in full bloom, which is expressed in particular through the arcatures of the false triforium and the elegant window infill. The nave represents one of the main achievements of the radiant period in the region. The transept belongs largely to the same building campaign, but the construction work was interrupted before it was completed, only to resume some twenty years later, around 1270-1280. Then followed the windows of the southern crosspiece and the choir with its two side chapels, whose construction was spread out until the end of the 13th century, and then the bell tower, which is one of only three bell towers in the Oise region that were built in the 14th century. In spite of the slow progress of the building site, the stylistic homogeneity of the building is remarkable, and only details of the modenature and an evolution in the design of the windows betray the long construction period. Around 1520-1530, an apse with cut-offs was added in the flamboyant Gothic style. It is a quality achievement that does not harm the balance of the whole. The church has been classified as a historical monument since September 9, 1850. It is located in the rue de l'Église.