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Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Étienne Abbey of Fesmy was founded at the end of the 11th century by two English nobles wishing to withdraw to serve God. They built a chapel dedicated to St Stephen and monastic buildings around which the village of Fesmy developed. In 1215, Abbé Humbert freed the inhabitants, marking a key step in local history. The church, probably built in the 12th century, was destroyed in the 14th and 15th centuries, requiring partial restorations, visible in the evolution of its windows.

In the 17th century, the abbey was led by Pierre Séguin, a renowned antique dealer who became abbot in 1641. Discontinued in 1762, his income was transferred to the seminary of Arras. Today, the abbey still has a single-ship church with a flat bedside, as well as the convent buildings converted into a farm. The west facade, Romanesque, contrasts with the remodeled Gothic bedside (late 13th century), while the absence of foothills suggests a wooden frame cover.

The abandoned church now serves as a barn. Its main gate and windows, now walled, as well as an oculus filled with the west gable, attest to architectural changes over the centuries. The remains, in white limestone, illustrate the transitions between Romanesque and Gothic styles, reflecting the historical tumults (wars, suppressions) that marked this Benedictine monastery.

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