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Origin and history

The Saint-Magloire Abbey of Léhon, founded in the 9th century by Nominoë, was a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint Magloire, whose relics were transferred from the island of Sercq. According to legend, six Welsh monks obtained these lands after stealing the saint's relics, with divine help symbolized by a sterile apple tree becoming fruitful. The site, originally made of wood, was destroyed by the Vikings in 910, pushing the monks to flee to Paris with the relics, where they founded a new abbey.

Rebuilt around 1008 after their return, the abbey became a royal priory attached to Marmoutier. In the 12th century, Pierre Mauclerc rebuilt it in an emerging Gothic style, with a unique nave and a flat bedside. The abbey church, built between 1190 and 1210, features arched vaults inspired by angeline architecture and a portal decorated with Romanesque sculptures. The choir, rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries, houses vegetal capitals and grotesque ass-de-lampe, while the nave preserves eight gissants, including those of the seigneurs of Beaumanoir.

The abbey prospered until the 18th century, despite conflicts like the siege of Dinan in 1359 by the Duke of Lancastre. In 1603, a religious reform was initiated by Dom Noël Mars, a key figure of the Société de Bretagne. Sold as a national property in 1792, the site became a brewery then a spinning before being restored from 1885. Today, the abbey serves as a parish church, and the convent buildings, including a 13th century refectory with Gothic bays, house a museum.

The treasure of the abbey includes a reliquary of Saint Magloire, a statue of the saint (14th century) and 18th century liturgical fabrics. The stained glass windows of the sacristy, dated 1260-1270 and attributed to a tourist workshop, represent religious scenes. The cloister, rebuilt in the seventeenth century by the Maurists, preserves 12th century Romanesque capitals. The attic, with their boat frame, and medieval kitchens bear witness to monastic life.

The abbey possessed lands and seigneurial rights throughout Brittany, such as the island of the Countess (Saint-Quay-Portrieux) or tithes at Calorgen and Trevron. His income, estimated at 16,305 pounds in 1777, came from farms, mills and bailliages. Deleted in 1767, the abbey was sold to Joseph Bullourde, then transformed into a factory before its partial restoration in the 19th century. Ranked a historic monument in 1931, it illustrates the architectural and spiritual evolution of medieval Brittany.

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