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Origin and history

The Chapel des Minières is a religious building from the 2nd quarter of the 16th century, built in 1526 or 1527 in Beaubray (Eure, Normandy) in the enclosure of the Manor des Minières. It was erected by Thomas Postel, Sire des Minières, as a family chapel and burial place for the fief lords until the 17th century. The building, rectangular, combines bricks and limestone, with a chevron frame and tile roof. Its flat bedside is adorned with a 16th century stained glass window depicting La Crucifixion, while a fire house houses a polychrome stone tomb of the 1530s, surrounded by statues of saints.

Disused but still owned by the Postel des Minières family, the chapel benefited from restorations (masonries, blankets, entrance door). Its western gable, mounted with industrial bricks and re-use stones, attests to a subsequent change in the building. Inside, plastered walls and terracotta floor contrast with carved elements, such as the statues of Saint Leonard, Saint Fiacre, Saint Anthony, and possibly Saint Benedict, dated from the late 15th or early 16th century.

The chapel has been protected under the Historic Monuments since 8 January 1998, covering the entire building, exterior and interior. Its architecture reflects a seigneurial model typical of the Norman Renaissance, while its furniture (glass windows, statues, Tombing) makes it a remarkable testimony of religious art of the time. The site, located at the place known as Les Minières, dominates the landscape near the forest of Breteuil and the church Notre-Dame de Beaubray.

The mining fief was owned by the Postel family since the 13th century, highlighting the historical anchoring of this line in the region. The chapel, though private, illustrates the role of the local lords in sponsoring sacred art and funeral organization, while offering a preserved example of rural religious architecture of the first French Renaissance.

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