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Origin and history

The guard corps of Saint-Germain-sur-Ay, also known as the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire chapel or the Grapillon chapel, is a 17th-century fortified building located in the Manche, Normandy. Built to monitor the coast, it served first the Coast Guard militias and then customs officers. This monument, inscribed in historical monuments, bears witness to the measures of securing the Cotentin against foreign invasions, particularly English, Saxon and Scandinavian.

In 1669, the king and governor commissioned the construction of twenty guard corps along the coasts, including that of Saint-Germain-sur-Ay, built by a master of work identified only by the initial "P." The latter, earning 140 pounds, also participated in eight other similar works in the area, such as Carteret or Flamanville. The archives of historian Pierre Mangon du Houguet, now lost, have helped to reconstruct this campaign of fortifications.

The company of the Saint-Germain-sur-Ay Coast Guard was created in 1705 under the authority of the Portbail Captain's Office. Composed of ten men aged 16 to 60, it was led by a captain and a lieutenant, responsible for raising up to 1,000 men in wartime. The guard corps, equipped with a theatre and deadly windows, sheltered those militiamen who relayed there day and night. Its remote location, at a league of the sea, is confirmed by documents of the eighteenth century.

Discussions on the dating of the building persist. According to Michel Pinel, the current guard corps is believed to have been used for customs purposes in 1900, while the original of 1669, located at the tip of the bench, is believed to have disappeared. A map of 1831 also shows ruins at the current location, suggesting reconstruction or displacement. In 1793, in the face of the threat of an English invasion, the municipality of The Hague-du-Puits even demanded the construction of a second guard near the "Bu du Banque".

The building, transformed into a chapel after World War II, became a Christian procession on August 15, 1949. Threatened by marine erosion, it was saved between 1977 and 1987 by a safeguard committee that consolidated its foundations. In 1984, director René Féret shot a scene in his film Le Mystère Alexina. Today, the stone building, of almost square shape (3.80 m x 3.30 m), retains its deadly windows and its original fireplace, as well as an altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

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