THE CHURCH
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The church
It is in the shape of a Latin cross. The last bay of the nave opens into two side chapels (built under Louis XIV) in front of the bell tower base, the first level of which rests on intersecting ribs. The entry porch to the nave portal and the choir are from the 15th Century and so is the spire.
In 1725, the parish had to redo the wooden vault of the nave, work for which it was responsible and, if the choir is not mentioned that is because, as the parish patron who chose the priests and levied tithes to provide for his needs, the cathedral precentor was responsible for its maintenance.
The French Revolution in 1789 and its anticlerical repercussions damaged the interior of the church, which was closed for services for fifteen months (March 1794 - June 1795). Some of the ornaments, the chalices, ciboria and other sacred vases were sold. The statues of Saint Peter and Saint Barbara were dragged through the public streets and the 15th Century Virgin and Child were broken by oafs who wanted to separate Baby Jesus from his mother. Christ was taken down and dragged through the cemetery.
When calm was restored, Louis Ménard, a farmer at the Gonneville manor, returned the chalices, cruets, two missals, two chasubles, etc., and a rich landlord returned the baptismal font while Guillaume Mallet brought back the statues of Saint Peter and Saint Barbara.
In 1812, the church council (parochial organisation created in 1809 to ensure the maintenance of churches) had the church roof repaired. In 1819, there were other unforeseen expenses such as repairing the tip of the spire which was struck by lightning during a storm.
In 1862, under Napoleon III, there was more investment with the construction of a sacristy at the north-east corner of the choir. From 1879 to 1892, the worm-eaten panels of the choir were replaced by a plaster archway and, although it might not have been really necessary, the church council and the commune decided to raise the walls of the nave to establish an identical archway to that of the choir. From 1892 to 1900, the parish priest was a holy man, a distinguished orator and accomplished musician, who was concerned about relieving the destitution and poverty of his flock.
After a curacy in Hambye, François Fouque, a native of Vergoncey in the canton of Saint-James, became the priest of the parish of Coudeville, close to Bréhal. It was difficult for him to leave for the cure of Blainville where he would display the full measure of his competences.
His initiatives earned us:
- the enhancement of the archway of the nave by removing the plaster that covered it, thereby revealing the Chausey granite.
- the addition of six new stained-glass windows: two in the choir, on either side of the large window in the sanctuary, and four in the nave in the second and fourth position on either side, from the door towards the interior.
- in the chapels, the replacement of the lancets which were too narrow by wide windows.
- a gallery was built at the bottom of the nave.
- in the choir, the installation of a Neo-Gothic high altar in Caen stone, with four blind arcades where Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Michael were placed on the retable on either side of the tabernacle, and on the front of the altar, Abraham and Melchizedech on either side of the Last Supper; work done in 1897 by J. Bourdon, a sculptor in Caen.
- finally, in 1899, two more Dampers, melted in Villedieu, were added to the bell tower. Already in 1873, "Jacqueline", who had survived the Revolution, had to be replaced by "Mary, Angel". Her new companions, the fat "Pauline" and short "Martha" would make it possible to distinguish the Angelus bell from the death knell.
The stained-glass windows
In 1869, the church council authorised the priest, Honoré Lenoir, to install new stained-glass windows in the choir. At the chevet,
a triptych with the Virgin in the middle; on her right, Saint Peter and on her left, Saint Paul. In the south casement window, Saint Anne instructs her daughter Mary and Saint Laude heals a blind woman. To the north, Saint Joseph and Saint Michael slay the dragon who personifies Satan. These three glass windows were made by a Parisian stained-glass maker, Edouard-Amédée Didron. Thirty years later, the abbot, François Fouque called on the services of the Mazuet workshop in Bayeux to make all the other stained-glass windows in the church.In the choir, new stained-glass windows were installed, notably Saint Genevieve in the north-east and Saint Joan of Arc and Saint Louis in the south-east. The small Gothic windows received Saint Dominic in the south and Saint Francis of Assisi in the north.
Under the bell tower is the stoning of Saint Stephen; in the chapels, to the north is the Annunciation and to the south, the appearance of the Sacred Heart to sister Margaret Mary Alacoque.
Today, the nave has only nine painted-glass windows. Two were broken during a storm in 1946. They were shaken by the impact of American bombs dropped accidentally on La Monnerie.
On the western wall of the gallery is the Holy Family at work; a stained-glass window dedicated to the children of the parish.
Going up the nave, to the south is the death of Saint Joseph and to the north, Mary Magdalene at Jesus' feet.
The next two on either side represent Saint Martin sharing his coat and Saint Vincent de Paul taking care of abandoned children.
Next: Our Lady of Gonneville saving a small boat from sinking and the baptism of Jesus.
After these, to the north is the baptism of Clovis and the fifth is the Virgin presenting the Child Jesus to Saint Simon Stock.
The statues
The only ones left are at the top of the nave at the entrance to the two chapels: to the left, the 15th Century Virgin with Child,
restored on the initiative of dean Louis Delaune with the contribution of the municipal council in about 1975. To the right is the 19th Century stone sculpture of Saint Francis de Sales.However, in the choir, the plaster Sulpician statues were kept in a part of the church that was abandoned since the installation of an altar under the bell tower to celebrate mass facing the parishioners. Therefore, Saint Philomena and Saint Germaine Cousin are in the south, and Saint Margaret and Saint Sebastian as well as Saint Peter are in the north.
In 1979, two 17th or 18th Century polychrome oak statues were installed in the southern chapel and they have been on the additional inventory list of historical monuments since 26 April 1999: Saint Peter and Saint Barbara
In the north chapel are Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus and Our Lady of Lourdes; other plaster statues recovered from the presbytery when it was put up for sale.
Under the bell tower, against the northern wall, the large painted wooden statue of Christ on the cross from the end of the 19th Century can be barely seen only from the first rows on the right side of the nave.