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Origin and history

The Church of St. Martin of Anglers, located in the Lot in Occitanie, finds its origins in a Benedictine priory attested as early as 972, dependent on the Abbey of Fons (she herself linked to Saint-Sauveur of Figeac). The clocher tower, the only Romanesque vestige, dates from the late 12th or early 13th century. Its massive architecture, with foothills and integrated staircase, evokes the Quercy turris, feudal towers reused as church belfries. The successive destructions (the Hundred Years War, the Wars of Religion) have erased much of the medieval structures, leaving only ogival vaults on the walls of the nave.

At the end of the Hundred Years War (15th century), British troops burned down the church and destroyed the top of the bell tower. Partially rebuilt in the 16th century, it was equipped with a chevron frame to decorate the tower. The religious conflicts of the sixteenth century aggravate the degradations, reducing the priory to a simple benefit for the monks of Fons. No trace of the convent buildings remains today, except for archival records.

Major reconstruction took place at the beginning of the 18th century, probably under the impulse of Mercury-Joseph de Corn, Marquis de Queyssac and seigneur d'Anglars, and his wife Suzanne de Turenne d'Aynac. Their coat of arms, visible on a vault key from the north side, date back to the 1720s. The church then adopted a late gothic style: a unique nave flanked by side chapels, a ceiling replacing the destroyed vaults, and a cradle vaulted stand. The false painted apparatus of the nave, signed Galtié J. 1954, bears witness to modern restorations.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1930 for its bell tower, the church illustrates architectural transformations related to seigneurial conflicts and patronage. Its bell tower, with exceptional arrangements (tromps, wall staircase), remains a rare example of a feudal tower reinvested in a religious building. Recent studies (Conseil départemental du Lot, 2009) highlight its role in the monumental Quercy landscape, between Romanesque heritage and Baroque adaptations.

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