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Origin and history

The abbey of Beaupré is an ancient male Cistercian abbey founded in the 12th century (ca. 1134-1135) by Manassès de Milly, lord of Achy. She was entrusted to the Cistercian order with twelve monks from the Abbey of Ourscamp, herself daughter of Clairvaux. The first buildings, consecrated in 1136, included an abbey where several local lords were buried, such as Raoul de Mouchy (1270) and Simon de Clermont, bishop of Beauvais (1312). The monks built the Petit Thérain valley with canals and ditches to drain the land, while extending their estate through acquisitions such as the Malmifait forest (1153-1159).

In the 14th century, the abbey suffered destruction during the English raids of Edward III (1346). The repeated floods (1644, 1671) severely damaged the buildings, including the Abbatial Palace, transferred to the Woimaison farm. In the 18th century, restorations were undertaken: the mill was rebuilt in 1736, and the abbey church around 1750 under Abbé Henry Hubert of Courtalvert. The abbey, sold as a national property in 1791, was partially demolished in the 19th century to install a cotton mill (1803-1824).

Today, there remains only the monumental entrance of the eighteenth century, a vaulted refectory, the remains of the mill and the communes transformed into dwellings. The ensemble, registered to historical monuments since 1988, is protected by a safeguard association against career projects. The site bears witness to Cistercian architecture and medieval hydraulics, although most of the original buildings have disappeared.

The abbey of Beaupré was the daughter of the abbey of Notre-Dame d'Ourscamp. Its cartular (1201-1300), preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and papal bubbles (Luc II in 1144, Eugene III in 1147) attest to its historical importance. The local lords, like Jean de Conty, were buried there, reinforcing his role in the Picardy nobility.

The abbey estate was organized around the canalized river: to the south, the abbey, the cloister and the convent buildings; in the north, the pool, the farm and the mill. The forest of Malmifait, gradually acquired, and the farm of Woimaison (donation ofHugues de Marlet in 1140) completed its resources. These developments illustrate the economic autonomy of Cistercian abbeys, combining agriculture, hydraulics and forestry.

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