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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Malo de Létanville, located in the Calvados department in Grandcamp-Maisony, is a religious building whose origins date back to at least the thirteenth century. Its construction continued and changed in the 14th, 16th and 18th centuries, with traces of work such as the closing of a bedside window and the addition of a foothill. The building, originally linked to the Priory of Saint-Fromond after a donation between 1154 and 1189 by Richard du Hommet, has a western facade surmounted by a bell tower today without a bell, as well as an ancient porch in ruins. A seigneurial chapel of the Scelles, dated 1687, communicates with the choir.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the church was reported to be abandoned, threatened by water infiltrations endangering its woodwork, including the high altar. A safeguard association, created by a parish priest and reactivated around 2015, undertakes actions for its preservation. Diagnostics and grating work are carried out between 2015 and 2017, with a draft charter in collaboration with the Heritage Foundation. The building, which has been listed as historic monuments since a decree of January 7, 1959, also contains classified furniture.

The church reflects a sober architecture, typical of Normandy's rural churches, with elements such as a panel once hiding the roof of the nave and choir. Its administrative history is linked to successive communal mergers, notably that of 1972 between Grandcamp-les-Bains and Maisy, giving birth to Grandcamp-Maisy. Despite its precarious state, it remains a testimony to the religious and architectural evolutions of the region, from medieval times to modern times.

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