Saint Vaast Church

The Saint-Vaast de Saint-Vaast-lès-Mello church is a Catholic parish church located in Saint-Vaast-lès-Mello, a commune in the Oise department. Its short nave is part of a small series of churches that were cross-vaulted from the end of the Romanesque period, in the early 1140s, when cross-vaulting was only known in France in Normandy and in the Beauvaisis. A different arrangement of the first and second intermediate piers of the large arches suggests that the decision to vault was only made during construction. The capitals are still rather archaic, and only one is historiated. The capitals are still rather archaic, and only one is historiated, and there are also cul-de-lampe in the form of grinning heads. The south aisle is still partly Romanesque, while the north aisle, as high and as wide as the nave, has undergone two reconstruction campaigns. Some of its provisions raise unresolved questions. The transept and the five-sided apse with its oversized plan are in the early Gothic style and date from the first half of the 13th century; the two oriented chapels with barrel vaults are noteworthy. On a church whose architecture is globally rather austere, the two portals of the late Romanesque period contrast pleasantly with the rest. They are both richly decorated, but while the one on the façade uses arrangements that are very common in the region, with the exception of the tympanum, which is decorated with strange engraved drawings, the one on the south side adopts a curious form of heightened arch and has a very rare decoration of plated arches. The eastern parts of the church are distinguished by the limestone slab roofs. The small church of Saint-Vaast thus combines several characteristics shared with few other churches, which makes it an interesting witness to the history of architecture in the region. It was classified as a historical monument by decree of September 11, 1906. But its condition has not ceased to deteriorate since then, and serious stability problems that appeared in 1937 are still waiting for a solution. It is affiliated with the parish of Sainte-Claire de Mouy.