Sentiers du Patrimoine ®
Chérence
Contourner les ruines par le haut et poursuivre sur le chemin jusqu’au carrefour. Prendre en face puis à droite sur 200 m et tourner à droite jusqu’à l’entrée de la carrière de Bézu.
Prochain point : Lat. 49.0971, Long. 1.6621
The former hamlet of Bézu, located some 800 metres from the village of Chérence, contains several decaying houses. The few remaining structures still show the wall foundations, cellar entrances, and vaulted openings. All were erected using locally quarried limestone. The buildings testify to what was probably an ancient occupation of the hamlet. Bézu is situated at the crossroads of several old communication routes, notably the road from La Roche-Guyon to Magny-en-Vexin. Nearby, cultivated fields and wooded areas would have provided resources for the inhabitants. Not far from Bézu, the springs of the Aulnaye also emerge, which once supplied the nearby washhouses.
The history of Bézu has partly been preserved through archives and records. In the 17th and 18th centuries, a farm belonging to the local lord was leased to a tenant farmer. The Duke of Rohan-Chabot also owned a house that served as accommodation for the gamekeeper. By the 19th century, the cadastral maps show six houses with a population ranging from 6 to 18 inhabitants. These were mainly cultivators, quarry workers, woodcutters, or cart drivers. Many were day labourers, suggesting that Bézu did not house the wealthier residents of Chérence. Some families lived in the hamlet for generations, such as the Dechérence, Combault, and Antin families. The population declined sharply from the late 19th century, with the last births in the Lendormy family recorded in 1952 and 1953, before the hamlet was finally abandoned.
