Parish church Our-Lady-of-the-Low-Work of Beauvais

Parish church of Beauvais (Oise), located at the foot of the monumental Gothic building. Xe century.

The typical shape of the Roman basilicas is still characterized at the era Carolingian, and particularly in the old cathedral of Beauvais, known as of Low-Work, in comparison with New-Work, the Gothic chorus.

The Low-Work, located timidly at the foot of the mass of current the Saint-Pierre Cathedral of Beauvais, arouses the interest of many historians of Article.

The twenties and one excavation campaigns of Emile Chami have clarified this monument.

History

Notre-Dame of Low-Work (this name only belongs to him since XIIIs century) was originally dedicated to Pierre saint, the Virgin and Jean-Baptiste saint. The building dates from second half of the 10th century.

Rare are the sources allowing a dating exact of the building. A text drawn from a obituaire of the cathedral going back to approximately 1635, will indicate as project superintendent the bishop, died into 998. On the other hand, Emile Chami is based on another anonymous handwritten source of the XVIIe century and proposes like dating the time of the bishop Hugues, the predecessor of Herve. The stratigraphic excavations and statements include this second assumption.

Various fires during the centuries devastated the church, including two at the end of the 11th century, one at the end of the 12th century, and another at the beginning of the 13th century. These fires cause the premature ageing of the monument. After the fire of 1225, Low-Work is lived cut down by its Eastern end for the monumental construction of the new chorus, completed in 1272. In 1510, it was cut down once again, during the construction of the Gothic transept, which caused the destruction of the remainder of the old Carolingian transept, as well as its three Eastern spans. Lastly, towards the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, these are still three spans which are sacrificed for the installation of two buttresses which étayents, on the Western side, the transept of the architect Chambiges.

The building was restored of 1864 to 1867, but this restoration is often considered to be too radical of the southern part by the historians of Article the side northern, was to him free from restoration, it gives on the cloister of évêché from which the Western wing dates, she also, of Xe century.

The small apparatus, employs again stone of them having belonged to the old Gallic rampart of the city. The archstones of the windows of the wall goutterot alternate with bricks and tiles.

The excavations révêlées a rebuilding of the frontage of Low-Work and additions which follow the fires of the 11th century. The current frontage is thus not the original frontage of the building.

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