Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The church Saint-Vaast de Quend, located in the Somme department, is attested from 1266 by a papal bubble of Clement IV. The present building preserves a flamboyant 15th century Gothic chapel, while the bell tower, nave and choir date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Its quadrangular bell tower, surmounted by an octagonal dome of 35 meters, served as a trigonometric point for maps of France in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The building spans several centuries: the northern chapel (15th century) contrasts with the bell tower erected between 1742 and 1748, and the nave rebuilt in the 18th century. The southern chapel, dedicated to the Virgin, was rebuilt in 1880. Formerly surrounded by a cemetery (transferred in 1874), the church houses two historic bells, Louise Olympe (1834) and Louise Françoise (1838), the latter offered by a local mayor.

Architecturally, the building combines flint, brick and stone, with an elevated choir and a marked transept. The bell tower, used for national mapping (1767, 1826, 1905), dominates the village. Near the Picard coast, the church embodies the religious and technical history of the region, from the Middle Ages to the contemporary era.

External links