The fourth phase of renovation work on the remains of the abbey church is underway, with completion scheduled for summer 2025.
On the structural side, the last two bays of the choir will be consolidated, a roof and framework will be built, and the north-east buttress of the choir will be rebuilt. In addition, the masonry will be repointed, the capitals cleaned and protected, and a anti-pigeon system installed.
When the vault was cleared of the rubble used as a bed for the tiled roof, two surprises were revealed
The vaulting stones, the vaultains, do not form a continuous vault; two rows above the double arches are no longer present. The double arches are the arches that support the vault and rest on the columns with capitals; the vault should be continuous over these arches.
Finally, these missing stones made it easier to pour the concrete for the consolidation clamps. They are shown in red on the principle drawing “Dessin de principe”.
The remains of the gable wall of the nave, erected during the 17th-century restoration works, have been cleared away from the rubble. This wall had been built on the medieval vault of the choir, between two double arches!
It is undoubtedly this choice that led to the damage and cracks that can be seen in the first bay of the choir vault.
In the foreground of the image, the ‘stepped’ stones are the remains of the 17th-century wall of the nave.
In the second plan, at the level of the tiled wall, the remains of the medieval wall of the gable of the nave.
The position of this gable wall, “mur-pignon XVIIème”, corresponds to the representation of the abbey church in the Monasticon Gallicanum.
