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Origin and history

The church of Notre-Dame du Ham is a Catholic church located in the village of Ham, Mayenne (Land of the Loire). Its present location, at the crossing of the departmental roads 219 and 264, would result according to a local legend of a miracle: the Virgin would have traced a stream to indicate that the sanctuary should be built in Ham rather than at Rousselière, a nearby village. This popular account also explains the presence of a stream crossing the ancient cemetery adjacent to the church.

The documented history of the church dates back to at least the ninth century. In 832, Louis le Pieux confirmed his membership in the diocese of Le Mans. In 1095, referred to as Ecclesia de Ham, it was then owned by lay people before being ceded to the religious of Saint Vincent du Mans by Guillaume de Doucelles, in exchange for a thousand Masses for the salvation of his deceased wife. A conflict then pitted Guillaume de Doucelles against his vassal, Guillaume du Ham, who claimed the church. Guillaume de Doucelles' son finally confirmed the donation to the monks, transforming the church into a priory.

The archives reveal religious tensions in the 18th century. In 1742, parish priest Louis Launay, judged "turbulent" by the bishop, was kept in office by a decree of Parliament. Four years later, in 1746, Vicar Nicolas Lejolly sentenced two men for contempt during Mass. The 1906 inventory, marked by local resistance (400 people despite the snow), takes place in a tense climate, with a muscular intervention of fifteen gendarmes entering through a fractured window.

The present church architecture is the result of major changes in the 18th and 19th centuries. The tower, built in 1868 according to the plans of architect Dromer for 9,236 francs, is accompanied by modifications such as the closing of lancet windows, replaced by full-cinetres, and the addition of two side chapels. Inside, the chapel Notre-Dame de Pitié (1576), the stalls and the confessional (1890), as well as the central altarpiece (18th century) testify to this evolution. An ambitious restoration was carried out in 1962 by Abbé Bernard Chardon, who modernized frescoes, stained glass windows (economic technique based on resin) and placed ceramics in the choir in 1978.

The last artistic interventions date from 1987, with the sculpture of two statues in elm for the high altar by Alain Legros, supplemented by two oak statues in the lateral chapels. These contemporary additions are integrated into a building where medieval legends overlap, seigneurial conflicts, and architectural transformations linked to liturgical and community needs.

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