Romanesque Art in Southern Manche: Album Part 10

152. Genets. The porch. This large porch, from the 16th century, stands before the south gate of the nave, which is from the 13th century. The porch has offered pilgrims and paris.h.i.+oners two stone benches and a shelter from rain and western winds coming from the sea. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-44]

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153. Genets. The porch from the 16th century is topped by a wooden frame added in the 18th century. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-082]

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154. Genets. The porch. Detail of the wooden frame added in the 18th century. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-42]

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155. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Location. The village of Saint-Leonard-de-Vains is located at the very end of the cape of Grouin du Sud, 2.5 kilometers from the village of Vains and 7 kilometers from the town of Avranches. The priory church stands in front of the bay of Mont Saint-Michel and the rock of Tombelaine. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains was the final village of the medieval road coming from Caen. Then the pilgrims needed to cross the dangerous sh.o.r.es to reach Mont Saint-Michel, their final destination. The priory church has become a private property since the French Revolution, and the village is now part of the parish of Vains.

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156. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Winter panorama. The village and its priory church under the snow, at the end of the winter. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-084]

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157. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Winter panorama. The village and its priory church, seen a little closer, at the end of the winter. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-085]

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158. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Spring panorama taken from inside the priory. From there, the Mont Saint-Michel seems to open itself to pilgrims and travellers. Saint-Leonard is a very old village. St.

Leonard lived there in the 6th century before being elected the eighth bishop of Avranches in 578. The village was then invaded by the Normans in the 9th century. After the Norman conquest, the village was part of the duke of Normandy's territory, and the fief of the lords of Vains.

In 1087, shortly before his death, William the Conqueror gave the priory to the Abbey of Saint-Etienne in Caen. In 1158, Henry II confirmed this donation, which included a mansion, arable lands and vineyards, as well as salines with the right to fish and to collect kelp. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-47]

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159. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. Spring panorama taken from inside the priory. The priory was a simple priory, that is to say a small monastery where some religious men detached from a main abbey were living under the direction of a prior, but without taking care of other souls (unlike a pastor for his parishoniers). The priory church was the property of the abbey of Saint-Etienne in Caen until the French Revolution. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-50]

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160. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory was sold in 1793, during the French Revolution, and the buyer turned the church into a farm building. In an article from the periodical Le Pays de Granville dated December 1976, Jean Bindet recounted that, "after the nationalization of the church properties in November 1789 and the sale of national properties from 1791 on, the priory and dovecote were left abandoned, and their ruins, with the church that had not suffered too much, were sold in 1793 for the sum of 200 francs in banknotes ... The buyer, wanting its purchase to fructify, decided to transform the church into a farm building. The choir of the ancient church became a kitchen with a fireplace built in the apse; the nave became a barn and a stable; the tower itself was used: the base as a cellar, and the floor was divided into a room and an attic, and topped with a chimney." The priory remained a farm for a long time, as evidenced by the cow behind the fence. This old photo was digitized by Claude Rayon. [Claude-48]

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161. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory church is still a private property in the late 20th century, but no longer a farm. In cooperation with the (French) Historic Monuments, the owner has turned the nave into a house by opening rectangular windows and revamping the interior.

In 1985, date of this photo, the tower and the choir are still in bad shape. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-086]

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162. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory church. The nave has become the owner's house in the late 20th century, which explains the rectangular doors and windows. The building has retained its original form though, with a nave strengthened by b.u.t.tresses and a two-row choir with a flat apse. The tower, between choir and nave, is topped by a saddleback roof. In 1985, the tower and the choir have not been restored yet.

Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-087]

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163. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory church. On this Photo by the 1980s, we still see the stairs leading to the first floor of the tower (they doesn't exist any more), as well as the rectangular openings of the tower and the choir, and the chimney above the choir. Photo by Marie Lebert. [Marie-19]

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164. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The priory church. On this recent Photo by 2009, the large rectangular openings pierced in the choir and the tower have been replaced by small bays of Romanesque style. The stairs leading to the first floor of the tower were removed, like the chimney above the choir. The building is back to its former beauty. Photo by Claude Rayon. [Claude-49]

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165. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The plan of the priory church. Regularly oriented from west to east, the building is formed of a nave and a two-row choir with a flat apse. The whole building has an external length of 32.75 meters and an external width of 9.65 meters (width of the front). The tower rises between choir and nave. Plan by Marie Lebert.

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166. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The Romanesque tower is from the early 12th century. Situated in the extension of the choir, its square base is topped by two floors in slight recess. The first floor was probably blind originally, with openings pierced after the French Revolution.

The second floor is opened north, east and south by two twin semi-circular arches. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-088]

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167. Saint-Leonard-de-Vains. The Romanesque tower. The masonry is made of irregular blocks of schist and granite, with a few rows of regular granite blocks. The saddleback roof rests north and south on a cornice supported by modillions. Photo by Alain Dermigny. [Alain-089]

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