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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Priory of the Enfourchure was founded between 1205 and 1209 by the Order of Grandmont, on an estate offered by Guillaume de Joigny, Count of the region. Set in a valley on the edge of the forest of Othe, it was ruined during the Hundred Years War and rebuilt between the end of the 15th century and 1520. Its buildings, characteristic of Grandmontan architecture, included a church of which there remains a monumental arch of 13.30 m high.

The order of Grandmont was abolished in 1772, and the priory, sold as a national good during the Revolution, served as a stone quarry. In the 19th century, there were still dogid crosses adorned with angels, now extinct, as well as a partially collapsed apse in 1996-1997. The 16th century stalls, saved from destruction, were transferred to the parish church of Dixmont.

Ranked a historic monument in 1926, the site is now a private property. It opens exceptionally during Heritage Days or by reservation for visits in small groups. The present vestiges — a prioral home, archature and church fragments — bear witness to its monastic past and the vicissitudes of its history, marked by wars, religious suppressions and looting.

Historical sources, such as Dr.Grézillier (1963) or Abbé Pissier (1880), document his architecture and role in the region. The priory also illustrates the decline of the Grandmontan settlements, whose property was dispersed after their dissolution. Architectural remains, though fragmentary, offer a rare glimpse of this monastic order that is now extinct.

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