Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Samer, located in Pas-de-Calais (Hauts-de-France), finds its origins in a 12th century chapel, now integrated as a northern part (chapel of the Virgin) and choir of the present building. This first nucleus, linked to a Benedictine abbey founded by St.Wulmer between the 7th and 8th centuries, was destroyed in the 9th century by Norman invasions, then rebuilt in the 12th century before being disused to the Revolution. The Romanesque chapel, the only vestige of this period, preserves 11th century baptismal fonts, cylindrical and historical, considered among the oldest in the department.

In the 15th century, the church was enlarged with the addition of a flamboyant Gothic choir juxtaposed with the Romanesque choir, creating a hybrid structure. Columns with Romanesque capitals, probably from the ancient abbey, are used again. The building suffered partial destruction in the 16th and 18th centuries (including the bell tower, rebuilt in 1842 by architect Philippe Sannier), then major restorations in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1863, a pediment was added, followed by the installation of stained glass windows signed by Nicolas Lorin (1864–66) and Latteux-Bazin (1898), now classified. Interior, restored in 1935, mixes Romanesque decorations with Gothic elements.

The originality of the church also resides in its integration into an architectural complex including adjoining houses, typical of the local heritage. Ranked a historic monument in 1926, it illustrates the stylistic and functional evolution of religious buildings in the north of France, marked by successive reconstructions and the re-use of historical materials. The baptismal fonts, described by archaeologist P. Wintrebert as a "transposition into the stone of the metal basins of early Christians", underline its heritage importance.

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