“”Look in the area, there are still new cracks“Sighs Jean-Marie Nigay, mayor of ercuis (Oise). Since April 2, it is impossible to access the village church. The building is surrounded by fences, on which is a municipal closure decree “for security reasons”, more specifically for a risk of collapse. The day before, the mayor received the visit report drawn up by a design and engineering firm, resulting that the Saint-Nicolas church no longer met the safety criteria applicable to establishments in its category. The report mentions in particular an in progress destructuring of the buttresses, the risk of falling a piece of stone and a sound slaughter, and especially important fractures.
Too heavy, the bell tower of the church of Ercuis would move
No magnifying glass to realize the extent of the damage. Inside the church, on at least half the ceiling, many crevices appear, becoming more and more large over the years. “”A first diagnosis had taken place in 2020traces the mayor. He was not alarming to the point of having to close, there was not really any danger. But there, when we see the width of the slits …»»
According to Daniel Urcourt, founder of the very young association of friends of the Saint-Nicolas church, the foundations would tend to move, surely because of the bell tower, which would be too imposing compared to the rest of the building. The mayor adds that the collapse of a mysterious underground which would connect the church to the castle of Ercuis could also accentuate this phenomenon.
An association to find funds
The fact remains that for the moment, the church is prohibited from access due to security. “”Everything moves a little in the cornersshows the mayor. Surely we will have to support part as in Beauvais cathedral.Now, we will have to take his pain in patience. There are some for years of quotes, files to present to obtain the slightest subsidy, and work.
To help the town find funds, an association has just been created: the friends of the Saint-Nicolas church. “”We wanted to create the association in order to clean and restore the churchsays Daniel Urcourt. Finally, we will have to start something more sustainable.The founder of the association already thinks of requests for the heritage lottery, the heritage foundation, but not only. “”We’re going to go to knock where there is moneyhe smiles. But first, we will set up a concrete file on its history.»»
The first traces go back to the 13the century
Because if the church of Ercuis is not classified, it still has a remarkable story. Located in the middle of the village, it is surrounded by the town hall and the Château d’Ercuis. The first traces of its construction would go back to the 13the century. At the time, Guillaume d’Ercuis, preceptor of Philippe le Bel, would have built a royal chapel for the priory monks located right next. XVIe A century, the building would have passed from the Romanesque style to the Gothic style. “”But we owe his current silhouette to the arrival of an important priest in the 19th centurye century, Father Adrien Céleste Pillon“Explains Daniel Urcourt.
Appointed parish priest of Ercuis in 1837, he found a village in ruins after a devastating fire three years earlier. He then built a factory to give work to the inhabitants, a school, housing and the castle. And therefore the embellishment of the church with magnificent stained glass windows. “”The bell tower has a remarkable and prestigious story, there is anywhere else, says the president of the association. And inside, there is a statue of Saint-Nicolas, elements of its legend, a 16th century burial, copies of prestigious paintings …»»
All this, Daniel Urcourt intends to detail it in a thick file in order to find a maximum of funds to restore this church, and reopen it as quickly as possible. As a symbol, the bishop came to give a mass there on January 13. Will it come back to it for a post-work inaugural mass?
