Sentiers du Patrimoine ®
Ennery
Prendre à droite jusqu’au Menhir de la Haute Borne. .
Prochain point : Lat. 49.07318, Long. 2.10346
This cross was erected at the start of the 18th century. It was originally entirely made of stone. The wrought iron cross dates back from the start of the 20th century. The shaft had also to be restored. Hence only the base dates back to the 1700’s. It presents an interesting inscription. It notifies the donation made by Jean Foy and his wife to erect this cross as well as the salvation of their soul. It was quite common that well-off individuals would pay for putting up crosses, in order to testify of their devotion and hope to go to Paradise. The inscription also mentions an abstract from a prayer which starts with “Je vous salue ô croix…,” the French translation of an old Latin prayer “O crux ave,” which can be found in the roman breviary.
The cross guard stones, originally closer to the foundations, were there to protect the cross from the vehicles passing by, as it stands at the crossroads heading from Pontoise to Labbeville and the old route to Beauvais known as ”l’ancien pavé.” These are two strategic axes: the road from Pontoise to Labbeville was one of the main roads until the 18th century. Under the reign of Louis XVI, the construction of a big road from Beauvais to Pontoise via Méru was undertaken: it then met Ennery in 1782, leading little by little to the downgrading of the previous axes. It is quite common to see a cross implemented at crossroads. They used to be a landmark for travellers, as well as symbolically putting the crossroads under their protection.
