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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Gildard de Longusse, located in Val-d'Oise, was built from the end of the 12th century under the aegis of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which had been its owner since 918. The choir and cross of the early Gothic transept were erected first, but the building remained unfinished, probably due to the Hundred Years' War. The imposing dimensions for a village suggest an disproportionate initial ambition, never realized.

In the 16th century, the lateral chapels were added to replace the missing crucifixes of the transept: the northern chapel, of flamboyant Gothic style (circa 1520-1530), and the southern chapel, of Renaissance style (mid-sixteenth century). The bell tower, of remarkable simplicity, dates from the same period and seems provisional. The church was classified as a historic monument in 1910 and damaged by a cyclone in 1917, requiring restorations led by Jules Formigé in the 1930s.

The building combines a variety of architectural influences: sexpartite vaults inspired by the basilica of Larchant, capitals carved from striated leaves or human heads, and a flamboyant vault key embedded in the cross of the transept. The polygonal bedside, rare in the region, and the absence of a western facade (replaced by a temporary wall) underline its atypical character. The Renaissance stained glass windows, such as the one representing Saint Gildard (middle XVI), and the classified furniture (statues, funerary slabs) enrich its heritage.

Under the Ancien Régime, the church depended on the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which named the parish priest and managed revenues. Longness, a royal land, was given to the abbey in 918 by Charles III the Simple in exchange for prayers for his family. The conflicts between the abbey and the parish priests, often poorly paid, are attested by the archives. After the Revolution, the church passed under the diocese of Versailles and then Pontoise in 1966.

The interior reveals a cross of the imposing transept, vaulted with quadripartite warheads, and a modified sexpartite vaulted choir, illuminated by simple lancettes. The lateral chapels, dedicated to the Virgin, house decorated vault keys (embison with MA initials, Renaissance sun). The base of the bell tower, vaulted with flamboyant warheads, contrasts with the unfinished nave, covered with an apparent structure. Outside, the buttresses and the sculpted cornice remind Vexin churches like Avernes.

Today affiliated with the parish of Avernes and Marines, the church welcomes only a few annual Masses. Its classified furniture includes statues (Vierge à l'Enfant XIVe-XVIe, Saint Sebastian XVIIIe), funerary slabs (XVIe-XVIIe) and a bell of 1733. Successive restorations, especially after 1917, preserved this complex witness to the religious and architectural history of the French Vexin.

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