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Origin and history

The Collège Notre-Dame de l'Assomption de Crécy-la-Chapelle found its origins in a small oratory founded in 1123 in Vignely, dependent on the priory of Saint-Martin-du-Vieux-Crécy, itself attached to Saint-Martin-des-Champs Abbey since 1143. In 1202, Anseau de Garlande, bishop of Meaux, erected this oratory as a parish and collegiate church, initially equipped with six canons, then eight after a donation by Dreux de Châtillon in 1220. The construction of the college was completed in the middle of the 13th century, thanks to successive donations.

The Hundred Years' War and the capture of Crécy by the English in 1421 severely damaged the building, requiring the reconstruction of the first four spans of the nave in the 15th century. The church was consecrated on 16 May 1429. In the 17th century, the repeated floods of the Morin weakened the structure, forcing the laying of iron draughts (1641) and the lifting of the pavement several times (1641, 1676, 1730). The collegiate chapter, in financial difficulty, was abolished in 1676 by Bishop Dominique de Ligny, although the church remained open during the Revolution.

Major restoration campaigns were conducted in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1826, the cover was restored, followed by work on the attices and bows (1849-1850, 1854-1857). Eugène Millet and Maximilien Mimey intervene respectively on the foothills, the high windows, and the vaults of the choir. In the 20th century, recurrent flood problems, linked to the Vaudessart Ru hijacked in the 16th century, led to dewatering (1980) and a closure for complete restoration between 1994 and 2005.

The architecture of the college is distinguished by a nave of six spans and a choir finished by a heptagonal apse, flanked by two biased apsidioles. The dogive vault of the choir, with twelve radiant branches, and those of the apsidioles (VIIth branches, 13th century) illustrate its Gothic heritage. Classified as a historical monument in 1846, it embodies both a medieval religious heritage and the challenges of its preservation in the face of natural and historical hazards.

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