The members of the association will welcome you if you wish for a guided tour.
Classified as "Historic Monument" from 1850, classification(ranking) renewed in 1910, the chapel of Sainte-Marie-aux-Anglais is isolated in the middle of fields, in the valley of Viette, far from roads and towns(conglomerations). It is surement for it that she(it) received only urgent restorations(caterings) until now. Since 2014, on the initiative of our association, she(it) makes the object of a total plan of preservation. A first phase has just ended concerning the closed and the place setting. The waterproofness of the building(ship), the evacuation of rainwaters were particularly treated.
This effort is intended(designed) to preserve from humidity set(group) of paintings(paints) of the unique(only) XIIIth century in Normandy. About 100m ² religious paintings(paints), life of the Christ and of Marie, but also stages(scenes) «of actuality of time(period)»: murder of saint Thomas Beckett, attack of a fortified castle by the crusaders, fights(disputes) knights, works of fields. Too modest and hidden, these paintings(paints) did not disappear in Counter-Reformation and did not undergo "shrill" restorations(caterings) in the XIXth century.
This set(group) requires a cleaning, a fixation(binding) of pigments, alterations(retouch) at a minimal level. These paintings(paints) are sometimes clumsy, naïve but move us. They are very rare witnesses(batons) of a popular, rural painting(paint) of the Middle Ages in Normandy.