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Origin and history

Saint-Martin-et-Saint-Vincent de Château-Thébaud, in the Loire-Atlantique department, is a Catholic church built between 1808 and 1934. It replaces a former Saint Vincent chapel cited in 1287. Prior to the French Revolution, the parish had two religious buildings: the church of Saint Martin, in poor condition, and the chapel of Saint Vincent, which became the parish church after a judicial arbitration. The current site dominates Maine and maintains an atypical wooden bell tower, home to four bells, one of which is a listed historical monument.

The construction of the present church spans several phases. In 1803 repairs (carrelage, perron, choir) preceded the addition of a bell tower in 1808. Two bells, brought back from Spain by Napoleonic soldiers, were installed there in 1813. In 1820, the building, judged to be in ruins, was almost entirely rebuilt between 1822 and 1825, retaining only the bell tower and the gallery. Other works followed in 1831, 1835, and 1878, while an aborted reconstruction project was envisaged in 1903. The current version, which was expanded in 1934, was slightly escaped a fire in 1952.

The church is home to remarkable elements: a bell from 1619 classified as a historical monument, a functional clock from 1913 to 2013, and paintings redone after the 1952 fire. Its wooden bell tower, rare in the region, and its bells with evocative names (Jeanne d'Arc, Amable-Marie) testify to its turbulent history, linked to local conflicts and successive architectural transformations.

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