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Origin and history

The chapel of the Trois-Étots, located 1 km north of Cernoy (Oise, Hauts-de-France), is a religious building of the early 16th century, built in red bricks enhanced with white stone chains. Its architecture, contemporary of the nearby Château des Trois-Étots, reveals a Renaissance influence marked by its western door adorned with white limestone sculptures (volutes, rosaces, rais de coeur) and its nine snout windows, partially garnished with ancient stained glass with ornamental and religious motifs.

Inside, the unique three-span nave, finished with a three-paned choir, features cylindrical columns that support dogid vaults. An engraved date (1544) on the northeast and west pillars confirms the construction period. The stained glass windows, though fragmentary in 1906, revealed scenes such as the Creation of the World (sun, moon, figures of Adam and Eve), while a 16th or 17th century swimming pool, decorated with bosses and foliage, remained on the south side of the choir. The exterior, sober, is rhythmized by brick foothills and a turret with a slate roof.

Listed as a historical monument on July 27, 1970, the chapel belongs to the commune of Cernoy. Its furniture and interior decorations (plated ceiling, arch in basket handle suggesting a seigneurial entrance) testify to its past use, linked to the hamlet and the neighbouring castle. The studies of René Parmentier (1906) and the heritage protections underline its architectural and historical importance in the Picard religious landscape.

The site, though modest, offers a rare example of a rural building combining brick and stone, typical of the local Renaissance buildings. The stained glass windows, though degraded, and the carved elements (chamber keys, capitals) make it a precious witness of 16th century decorative art in Picardia. Today, the chapel remains a historic place open to the visit, managed by the municipality.

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