Church of Saint-Martin-la-Corneille
The church of Saint-Martin-la-Corneille and its cemetery are located somewhat away from the city of La Saussaye in Normandy. The building, dedicated to St. Martin, dates back to the eleventh century. In the sixteenth century, the church was enlarged and it was fully restored in the nineteenth century. The main facade is contiguous to a medieval-style house. The entrance is through a porch under framework. The building is composed of a nave surmounted by a bell tower with an octagonal spire.
About this building
The church of Saint-Martin-la-Corneille is located in the village of La Saussaye in Normandy. The building, dedicated to St. Martin, who was one of the first apostles of Christianity, dates back to the 11th century, as evidenced by the seats in fish arches and the Romanesque windows of the choir. In 1317, before the founding of the collegiate church of Saussaye, Guillaume d'Harcourt transferred to this parish church the thirteen canons established beforehand in his castle of Saussaye. In the sixteenth century, the church is enlarged: the bays are altered and a nave is built. Restoration work is again carried out in 1879: the roof is redone, the interior is plastered and two brick chapels are built.
The church and its cemetery, surrounded by a parish enclosure, are located somewhat away from the city. The main facade is contiguous to a medieval-style house. The entrance is through a porch under framework. The church has an orientated and rectangular plan. The building is composed of a single nave of four bays covered by a barrel vault. It is surmounted in its middle by a bell-tower of square plan comprising seven sound-board on each of its faces and topped with an octagonal spire of corneville type. Two side chapels, with semicircular apses forming a false transept, frame the nave. The furnishings are modest, but in the southern chapel there is an altar surmounted by a sixteenth century polychrome stone carving group depicting Saint Martin sharing his cloak with a pauper.
