6 minute read
A-Z of the Communes in the Deux-Sèvres
Thénezay
by Sue Burgess
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Interior of the church at Thénezay
Thénezay, with its population of around 1400 Theneziens, was a centre of judicial administration from the Xth century onward. The parish depended on Poitiers Cathedral and the bishop nominated the priest of the parish until the Revolution. The XIth century church was originally dedicated to Saint Pierre. Then a new Romanesque style church was built in the place where today’s church stands. This church was at first dedicated to Saint Mathias and then from the XVth century to Saint Honoré. The relics of Saint Honoré’s skull are kept in the church. The church was modified several times in 1685, 1753 and 1784. It was closed from 1791 to 1802. In 1250, an animal dealer from Buzançais, called Honoré, came to Thénezay to buy cattle and take them back to the Berry region to sell them. He was a good man who donated a lot of his profits to charitable works. While in Thénezay he was assassinated by two of his servants who he had reprimanded for stealing a cow. The dealer Honoré’s decapitated body was found near the well at Buzay, near Thénezay, by people sent from Berry by the dealer’s mother who wanted the body taken back home. As the carriage was passing the church in Thénezay, the horses stopped and refused to move on. The dealer’s head was left in Thénezay and the rest of the body taken back to Buzancais. Honoré was beatified in 1444 and Thénezay became a place of pilgrimage which was visited by a lot of people, before the Revolution. The Catholic church in Thénezay, part of the diocese of Poitiers, is now dedicated to Saint Honoré. The dangerous state of the building meant that the church had to be demolished at the end of the XIXth century. The new church was rebuilt between 1901 and 1903 in a neoRomanesque style with a high bell tower, following plans by the architect Girard from Niort. The new church was consecrated on the 17th October 1903 by Monsiegneur Pelgé, the then Bishop of Poitiers. The church has three naves which are illuminated by brightly coloured stained glass windows, some of which are very high up. The choir stalls date from the XVIIIth century, and were bought in 1825 by the priest of the parish. The stalls come from the disused Cistercian Abbey of Le Pin at Béruges. They were transferred into the current church in 1903. Two years later, the church was confiscated to become the property of the state, after the 1905 law separating the church and the state.
The main altar in white marble, which had been paid for in 1903 by the Countess of Talhouët-Roy was sold in the 1970s and replaced by a wooden table altar so that the priest would be facing the congregation. The stained glass windows in the choir were made by the glassmaking company Touan in Paris and represent the life of Jesus. In 2003, the main bell collapsed and a new bell was founded using the metals from the old bell, by the foundary Bollée in Orleans. The new bell was paid for by the local people and it was blessed in October 2003. Today the parish of Thénezay no longer exists and the church is part of the Parish of Saint-Jacques-en-Gâtine.
There is no longer a weekly mass held in the church but there are often weddings and funerals. The church of Thénezay still houses the relics of Saint Honoré. Originally his skull was placed in an ebony case which had been paid for by the Duke of La Meilleraye, the lord of Thénezay. But in 1793, during the revolution, the skull was thrown onto the steps of the church. The fragments that a parishioner managed to pick up were placed in a glass case and then in 1834 into a new painted wood case and finally into a reliquary made of golden coloured copper which is where the relics can still be seen today.
A VOIR /MUST SEE Le Four à Chaux (The lime kiln)
The lime kiln was built for Désiré Grassin in 1887. The date when the kiln stopped working is unknown. In front of the oven is a hallway covered by a barrel vault. A ditch about 2.80 metres wide and 1 metre deep was built about 3.5 metres from the oven mouth. The ditch was probably used for loading wagons. The oven itself was partly dug out of the rock. The whole thing is about 8 metres high. Heading towards Gourgé, after the place called "bas de buzay", park at the entrance to a walking track. Walk down there a few hundred metres and the lime kiln is on your right. You can picnic there.
Le Chateau du Thay (The castle of Le Thay)
A large square tower with arrow slits is what remains of le Chateau du Thay. There used to be an outside staircase. In the XVIth and XVIIth century the knights of the Coindardière lived there. The latrines at the base of the tower lead directly into the water.
From Thénezay, take the road to La Peyratte and go immediately left towards La Boissière. A few kilomères along here after a bend, you can see the remains of the castle.
Le Logis de la Grande Forêt (Private property) The first traces of this property go back to 1451, when Eustache de Luains became the owner of the Château de la Forêt. There was also a chapel dedicated to Saint Catherine.
This family, who also had other properties on the commune (Logis de Puysan) was originally from the area around Mirebeau. Several families lived in the chateau and then the knights of la Coindardière who also owned the chateau du Thay.
Around 1830-1834 the Grassin family took over the property and the chateau remained in the family until 1995 when it was bought by the Marquis family. Major Grassin (the first owner in 1830-1834) had 7 houses built for his 7 children. One was built near the chateau, and it is where the current owners live. The other houses are at Villeneuve, Vautebis, Lhoumois, and "Le Chiron" (Commune of la Peyratte). There is a cellar in which the entrance to two underground passages can be found. They are now blocked off and probably went towards la Moinie and Buzay. There are also the remains of a wine press and old wine making tools.
There is a horseshoe shaped staircase that leads to a large room where the lords of the manor lived. There is a fireplace and a window with a window seat called a "coussiège" (where seamstresses sat to sew using the daylight).
The tower was probably where people used to sleep. There are cupboards, sinks and a dry toilet.
This is a private property, but viewing is sometimes possible during heritage weekend or by appointment.
