Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

St. Croix de Bernay Church, located on Thiers Street, is built to serve as a parish church at the Barony of Bernay. Authorization for its reconstruction on a new site is granted in 1372. The choir and transept were completed at the end of the 14th century, while the nave was completed in the first half of the 15th century. Work continues with the completion of the vault of the northern collateral and the false vault of the nave in 1530. The portal was built in the 18th century, and the bedside was expanded in 1863 with the addition of an ambulance in 1865.

In 1808 the furniture of the Abbatial Church of the Bec was dispersed by a ministerial decree. Abbé Lefebvre, the first titular parish priest of Sainte-Croix after the Revolution, obtained from Cardinal Étienne Hubert de Cambacérès much of this property to adorn the church. These elements include a 17th-century high altar, statues of the apostles from the Abbey of Bec, and a burial place under a fire. The stained glass windows, made by the Duhamel-Marette workshop in Évreux, complete this ensemble.

The church also houses two notable organs: a large organ built in 1570 by Nicolas Baril, restored in the 19th century but silent since 1942, and a choir organ acquired in 1913, originally installed in the Vatican for the Universal Exhibition of 1899. These elements, combined with funeral slabs of Abbé du Bec and a beam of glory adorned with a crucifix attributed to Guillaume de La Tremblaye, make Sainte-Croix a place rich in historical and artistic heritage.

The building is listed as historic monuments by order of 26 December 1927. His history was also marked by local figures, such as Thomas Lindet, pastor of the church until 1790, known for his generosity and political commitment to the 1789 General States. The church thus reflects centuries of religious, architectural and social history in Normandy.

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