Neauphles-Saint-Martin had two parishes, the parish of Saint-Pierre, near the castle, centred around a church of which all that remains are some elements dating from the 14th century at the earliest, and the church of Saint-Martin, which may have been built on the site of an earlier church dating from the sixth century.
Neauphles-Saint-Martin was known from well before the Romanesque period, given that in 856 there was a gathering of the notables of the kingdom, on the orders of Charles the Bald, in order to decide on the strategy to adopt against the Scandinavian invaders. In 1097 a stone keep was built by William Rufus, which succeeded the wooden fortification, as well as a Royal residence.
The current church of Saint-Martin does not seem to be earlier than the 11th century. Very few vestiges dating from the 11th and 12th centuries survive. Some fully arched windows with straight keystones can be observed in the nave and the choir. The nave which is Romanesque, but was shortened following the destructions of the second world war, is in rubble stone and the corners are bonded. There is no sign of buttressing. The entrance is now via an early 19th century porch. The choir was raised in the second half of the 12th century and the original windows replaced by windows around a semi-circle, four with a surbased arch and two others with a broken arch. These are very splayed and topped by a cordon.
In the 14th century a chapel was built onto the south of the choir, more windows were opened up in the 18th century, and the last modifications arose due to the destruction of the Second World War. The main interest of the church stems above all from the decorative elements, which are statues from the period between the 14th and 18th centuries.
Bibliography
- Charles, Jacques. “
Les vestiges de l’époque romane dans les édifices religieux de l’Eure ”,
Monuments et sites de l’Eure, n° 68, 1993, page 20.
- Layec, Elise. - Les églises disparues dans l’arrondissement des Andelys, mémoire
de Maîtrise, 1995.
- “ Neaufles-Saint-Martin ”, Les Nouvelles de l’Eure, n° 8, 2e trimestre
1961.
- Tard, Louis-Martin. - Guide du Vexin Normand, éd. Valhermeil et Corlet, 1994,
p. 81-85.