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Origin and history

The church of Saint-Martin de Tierceville, located in Calvados in Normandy, is a religious building built in the 12th century, with a Romanesque choir. The bell tower, dated the 13th century, has unfinished high parts, while the lower sides are added in the 13th or 14th centuries. Major works at the beginning of the 18th century altered the west facade, cut the choir capitals and added a sacristy, considered clumsy by Arcisse de Caumont. The southern gate, adorned with leaves in the middle of the hangar, was inscribed in the historic monuments in 1933, although today blocked.

The patronage of the church belonged to the Abbey of Grestain (Eure), highlighting its link with Norman religious institutions. The nave, originally intended for dogive vaults never realized, preserves columns and capitals testifying to this aborted project. The tower, close to the choir, has ogival windows and a clover opening, while the roman bedside is pierced with two bays. The lower sides, covered in appentis, and the walled frame date back to the modern era.

Arcisse de Caumont, in his monumental Statistique du Calvados (1857), describes the church as an example of Norman architectural transitions, mixing primitive novels and Gothic additions. The side door, a protected element, illustrates the local medieval craftsmanship by its vegetal motifs. Despite changes, the building remains representative of the low-norman rural religious heritage, marked by the influence of abbeys and the evolution of constructive techniques between the Middle Ages and the classical era.

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