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Origin and history

The Saint-Ouen d'Offranville church, dedicated to Ouen de Rouen, is a 16th-century Catholic building located in the heart of the village, surrounded by an ancient cemetery and an if millenium. Its construction, between 1517 and 1582, was carried out by parishioners themselves, using local materials such as Varengeville sandstone or Muchedent lime. The building replaces an earlier church attested as early as the 10th century, destroyed because of its age. Its ogival architecture, with foothills and arches, allows large bright windows, typical of secular churches of the time.

The church houses remarkable furniture, including a 17th century beam of glory, a 1785 lutrin and a flamboyant pulpit of 1844. Its stained glass windows, partly original from the 16th century, illustrate biblical scenes and the life of the saints, although many were replaced in the 19th century. The bell tower tors, twisted by an accident of construction, and the Breton calvary of Yves Hernot (1860), carved in a block of blue granite, are emblematic elements. The old cemetery, disused in 1873, preserves historical graves, including that of Dr. Louis Lefrançois, pioneer of thalassotherapy.

The history of the church is marked by events such as the fire of 1981 destroying the chapel of Saint-Barbe, restored in 1984, or pilgrimages against the plague in the seventeenth century, linked to the chapel of the Vertus of Saint-Aubin-sur-Scia. The annual procession of May 1, established after the disappearance of the plague, bears witness to local devotion. The organ, installed in 2002 after a turbulent journey, and the obituary slabs of the 16th-17th centuries recall the central role of the church in the community and spiritual life of Offranville.

The monument also includes symbolic elements, such as the liquef, a tree protecting against epidemics, or the gargoyles of the chapel Saint-Nicolas. The modern stained glass windows of Jacques Gitton (1984), in the baptismal chapel, combine Christian symbolism and abstraction. Finally, the tomb of Jehan Veron, benefactor of the 16th century, and the weapons of the local families (Caude Coste, Veron) engraved on the pillars, underline the historical and social anchor of this place.

The Saint-Ouen church remains a major architectural and cultural witness of Normandy, combining medieval heritage, sacred art and popular traditions, such as the procession of the Vertus, perpetuated for more than three centuries.

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