Informations directionnelles

Tourner le dos au temple, le laisser sur votre droite. Traverser la route et prendre le chemin qui longe le bosquet. Continuer sur le chemin principal. Laisser un bosquet sur votre gauche. Traverser la rue des Ecoles, puis se diriger vers le panneau d’informations sur la Réserve naturelle nationale. Passer à côté des bancs en bois et prendre tout de suite à gauche le chemin du Val Roux qui descend (attention, pente raide !) sur environ 350 mètres. Traverser la rue du Général Leclerc. Juste après le parking de trois places, prendre le chemin qui descend, prendre à gauche, puis à l’intersection suivante à droite. Continuer sur ce chemin qui longe la Seine. Prendre le premier chemin sur la droite. Revenir sur la rue du Général Leclerc et prendre à gauche. Aller jusqu’à la place de la liberté, le cœur du hameau de Clachaloze.

RELIGION

Two faiths, two chapels

 

One protestant…

Protestantism is one of the three main branches of Christianity, along with Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity. It includes groups directly or indirectly arising from the Reformation, and rejecting the authority of the Pope. The appearance of protestantism in France as a Christian faith, separate from the Roman Catholic Church, led to the need for new places of worship in line with these new ideals. Some were former Roman Catholic or secular buildings repurposed and renovated in keeping with the principles of the reformed church. All most all 16th and 17th century protestant churches have been destroyed. Around 1855, there was a strong protestant community in Gommecourt, led by Prosper Chevalier and Claude Canal. A cultural association named the “Eglise réformée évangélique de Mantes” (the Evangelical reformed church of Mantes) took up headquarters in this chapel.

 

 

…the other, catholic

The 1899 teacher’s monograph (a text written on the region for the Universal Exhibition), includes a quote from Deputy Prefect Armand Cassan, originally published in 1833, describing the ruins of this chapel: “In the hamlet of Clachaloze, we took an interesting tour of the ruins of an old chapel, of which remains a few columns, a few tombstones and a few paintings, along with a long gothic inscription, still fairly legible, recounting a battle of King Edward of England, known as the Saint.” (A Cassan, 1833). A roman-style church, it was apparently 25 metres long and 11 metres wide. It was roofed with tiles and toped with a bell tower. The bell that once hung there had already disappeared by 1806. This description situates the chapel near the street called Port Saint Fiacre. In 1800, it was sold off as a national asset to Joseph Bontron from Versailles. The land was then acquired in 1845 by Monsieur Bracq, who built a house on the site. One of the columns has been preserved on rue de l’Eau, in the centre of the village.