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Origin and history

The Torp Chapel, located in Villers-Canivet in Calvados, is a religious building whose origin dates back to the 12th and 13th centuries according to traditional sources. However, recent archaeological studies (INRAP, 2015) suggest an older dating period between the 10th and early 11th centuries, with work continuing until the 13th century. It was originally the parish church of the village of Torp, now extinct, before its merger with Villers-Canivet in 1828. The building, dedicated to the Virgin, presents a Romanesque choir adorned with modillons and an ogival Gothic nave, reflecting its multiple phases of construction and redesign until the 18th century.

The chapel was critical in the early 2000s, threatened with ruin. Acquired for €1 by the municipality in 2002 after a peril order, it benefited from an associative mobilisation and an inscription in historical monuments in 2003. A first tranche of restoration (2016), estimated at around €160 000, made it possible to secure masonry, framework and cover. The visible burials of the Morel family, local lords in the 16th century, recall its historic anchor, as well as its possible role as priory.

The origins of the chapel are related to the family of Torp, benefactor of the Abbey of Saint-Évroult in the 11th century. The site, marked by successive transformations, illustrates the architectural and religious evolution of medieval Normandy. The Morel family, who owned the seigneury in the 16th century, left tangible traces there, while recent excavations revealed a complex stratigraphy, reflecting a continuous occupation over almost a millennium. Today restored, the chapel embodies both a material heritage and a local collective memory.

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