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Since the partial renovations of 1976, over thirty years ago, the church has suffered serious damage due to both humidity and normal wear and tear particularly in the untouched adjacent zones.
The current project therefore proposes to restore these adjacent zones :
- the Nave
- the Rosary chapel,
- the Mortuary chapel,
- the Baptismal chapel,
- the Chapel of St Francis de Sales,
- the Sacristy and the upstairs appartment
The first work will concern the Nave and the Mortuary chapel. Once that is done the next job will be to tackle the other three lateral chapels (Rosary, Baptismal and St Francis). Then, having completed the preceding renovations, efforts will be directed towards dealing with the Sacristy and the upstairs appartment, once used by the President Le Roux, but untouched since his death in 1788.
In part because of the degradation of the supporting wall plaster, the lateral woodwork has become loose and displaced; however, the woodwork itself is mostly still in reasonably good condition, and if carefully disassembled and reconditioned should be worth reinstating. Naturally, before that can be done it will be necessary to replace the lower plasterwork of the supporting walls.
To finish this job it will be necessary to re-paint the nave once the plaster has been re-done, and it is essential that the appearance should tally with that of the work done in 1976 in the chancel.
This lateral chapel is designed on a circular plan of Italian Renaissance inspiration and it dates from circa 1780.
The architect's name is not mentioned in church records, but he may well have been Charles THIBAULT.
The decoration is the work of the artist-sculptor Nicolas-Louis LAMINE. The altar is made of a single slab of marble,
and above it one can see the large painting representing the gift to St Dominique and to St Catherine of Sienna of the holy Rosary.
This painting dates from 1782 and is signed Jean Baptiste HUET. The medallions surrounding the painting represent the fiftenn Mysteries of the Rosary.
It is said that this chapel was the favourite place of prayer of President Le Roux who could access the chapel directly from his upstairs private appartment via the little garden.
The renovations will have to concern the whole of this chapel : ceilings, walls, woodwork, stained glass, and the paintings. The result should provide a perfect setting for Huet's painting, which itself is a marvellous composition.
The ceiling is the only part remaining more or less intact.
The Mortuary Chapel was vandalised during the French Revolution, as can be seen in the following photograph.
The chapel has also been damaged by dampness which has caused the plaster to separate from the brick walls and has deteriorated - and in some places destroyed - the mural paintings,
particularly towards the bottom of the walls. It has become really urgent and necessary to renovate this chapel.
Specialists of murals and frescos will be called in to propose which parts will be repaired, or renewed by reconstitution, or compensated.
The 2 missing medallions can be replaced by copies made from original models in Acquigny Manor, or they can be copied from duplicates in the church of Le Mesnil Jourdain, a neighbouring village.
Then, after the renovations and incorporation of security protection in this small chapel, it is proposed that the golden reliquary be brought back to the church and exhibited to the public. (It is temporarily locked away in the village town-hall's offices).
The grey monochrome murals of this chapel are seriously damaged and one can only just recognise the Baptism of the Righteous and the beheading of St John the Baptist by the executioner. The chapel has a small circular tabernacle for the holy oils. Fitted against the wall, the superbly handcrafted confessional is of rocaille style (imitating shells, plants or rocks) similar to Louis XV domestic furniture.
Some of the murals of the chapel have completely disappeared. The proposed renovation work will try to save what paintings it can. The plasterwork, the lateral woodwork and panelling need redoing. The time-worn reredos, which represents the baptism of Christ, needs repair.
The walls of the Baptismal Chapel bear a narrative mural painting dating from 1779. The pannelling is overpainted in trompe l'œil with scenes from the lives of St Francis de Sales and of the founder the Order of the Visitation, Jeanne de Chantal. Parts of the mural are well conserved despite deteriorations caused by a fire in 1990.
Francis de Sales is seen preaching and teaching people. The amount of renovation work to be done is important : ceiling, lower parts of walls, reredos showing St Francis handing their constitution to the Visitandine nuns.
The private appartment, which is accessed via the staircase from the Sacristy, was built for the President of Acquigny, Pierre-Robert Le Roux d'Esneval, over and above the Sacristy and it had a direct view over the Chapel of the Holy Spirit from the gallery window. The President spent the latter part of his life living in this appartment respecting the rules of the Trappists.
The photograph shows the small oratory in which the President would pray.
The appartment has been left more or less in the state it was in when the President died in 1788. It is hoped that visitors will be able to see the appartment (oratory, library and access to the President's gallery) where it should be possible to exhibit the church's collection of valuable old books and liturgical ornaments. These would include the interesting collection of ornaments inherited from the Brotherhood of Charity of Acquigny.
