A-Z of the Communes in the Deux-Sèvres

Scillé

by Sue Burgess

Sunset over Scillé

At the western edge of the Gâtine, to the North of Coulonges sur l’Autize, the commune of Scillé stretches over an area of 1102 hectares and overlooks the département of the Vendée. The highest point of the commune is to be found at la Cantine, at 256 m above sea-level. The area of the commune is limited by two streams. The Saumort, also called «la rivière de La bourse» to the north and to the east, marks the boundary with Vernoux-en-Gâtine over by Les Jinchères. The Saumort flows into the Autize at Ardin. To the west there is the stream of la Crétinière which becomes la Réorthière and finally La Fougère and which separates the communes of Scillé and le Busseau. To the north-east is Vernoux-en-Gâtine, l’Absie is in the north, to the west Le Busseau, and to the south, La Chapelle Thireuil. A legend says that by sitting on a huge stone in the bed of the Saumort, the four mayors of Vernoux, le Beugnon, la Chapelle Thireuil and Scillé could play cards together whilst still remaining in their own commune. The tribes who settled in Poitou were called Pictons. They were brave, fighters and very superstitious. They loved the sun and the moon and worshipped the hills, springs, rivers and trees . In the Gâtine, some Gallic villages have left traces of these superstitions in their names. Vernoux from «verno», in Latin «dawn» and still found in vergne; le breuil from “bois (wood). One name in particular attracts our attention - that of the hamlet of la Folie. There are 27 hamlets called La Folie in Deux-Sèvres. They are probably places where pagan rites and ceremonies were performed. Perhaps at the winter solstice, the druids picked mistletoe from the large oak trees in the forest. In Scillé, the hamlet of La Folie, on the top of the hill, is exposed to the rising sun and makes us think about those far away times. The map of the Deux-Sèvres shows the Roman roads that crossed the area. Two roads ran quite close to Scillé. The road from Périgueux to Nantes through Rom (which doesn’t actually cross Scillé but goes past it just to the North), following roughly what is now the L’Absie – le Beugnon road, and then went through Bourgneuf towards Chantemerle and Saint-Pierre-Du-Chemin It seems that the road from Saintes to Angers went around the southern side of the hill of la Cantine, perhaps in order to avoid the hills and slopes. Traces of the road are found at the crossroads of the road of les Fougères and la Crétinière. The Roman road followed la route de la Crétinière for several hundred metres and then went towards le Petit Paris then la Foye, parallel to the road to l’Absie. Because of the new Roman road, the forest was exploited, and clearings were made and people came to live there. “La Foye” comes from the Latin word “fagus” meaning beech tree. Scillé was founded during the Gallo-roman period. It is likely that the domain was given to a senior official from the army or administration. A man called SCILLIACUS or SCILIACUS or perhaps SILIUS or CILLIUS would probably have been given a domain near the Roman road in an area where water from the springs was plentiful all year round. In the field opposite the entrance to the Cour du Prieuré (courtyard of the priory), lots of stones have been brought to light during agricultural labouring and there could well have been a building here. The inhabitants were given the charge of surveying the traffic going along the Saintes-Angers road. The lieu-dit : les plis, is a local deformation of PLESSIS which originally described a fortress made of interlaced spiny branches.

Gold in Scillé. Legend or truth ?

In the fields of Gouffre, there was, a very long time ago, a hole which was so deep it was called « Le Gouffre ». (the abyss). Local legends say that one day a farmer and his plough and animals fell into it and disappeared forever into the dark waters. The reality is different. Research around the area has shown that there was probably a gold mine there about 2000 years ago. Although the seam was not very rich and there was only a small quantity of gold in the rocks.

The history of Scillé could have stopped there. But in 312, the Emperor Constantin allowed Christians to practice their religion freely. Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers about 350, is said to be the father of the Church in Poitou. At Scillé, the church is dedicated to Saint-Hilaire and two saints are worshipped there Sainte Radegonde and Sainte Catherine. A chapel dedicated to Saint-Hilaire and a priory were built in Scillé. The chapel of Saint-Hilaire of SILLET depended on the Archpriest of Ardin and was probably founded in the V Century. Scillé has around 20 lieux-dits (hamlets) on the commune including la Bourse, la Cantine, la Cayenne, les Chantières, les Champs, la Crétimère, les Fossés, la Fouctière, les Fougères, les Landes, la Loubrière, la Maison Neuve, la Mariettière, le Moulin du Chemin, la Noue, le Temps, Saint Marc, la Vazonnière, la Verdonnière and la Volette. In 1793, the commune was known as Seillé. On the 28th February 2010, Scillé suffered from the winds of the storm Xynthia. It was at Scillé that the strongest gusts of wnd were recorded inland on the plains, with gusts recorded at 161 km/hour. Amongst the economic activities present on the commune we find the production of Christmas trees, a poultry slaughterhouse, a public works enterprise and machinery design workshops. Most of the economic activity of the commune is agricultural and animal breeding.

Important buildings on the commune

• Saint-Hilaire Church built in the V and VI centuries. • La Verdonnière chateau ;A private property which is not open for visits. Dominating the Gatine landscapes, the château was built or rebuilt in 1619, according to an inscription in the stonework. It was owend by M de la

Verdonnière in 1660, and then by René Tutault in 1667. It then passed through the Garat de Nedde and the Saint-

Priest families before coming into the family of its current owners. There is a large defensive wall with two round towers with tile roofs and a porch. • Remains of châteaus at Saint-Marc and la Touche-Paris .

If you follow the marked walking circuit “Chemins Creux et Fermes Fortifiées” which is a 12km walk starting at the church in Scillé, you will come across the sites of saint

Marc and La Touche Paris. The domain of Sant Marc was surrounded by a wall with four towers. Only one tower remains today. The farm of the chateau still remains. • At la ToucheParis a door surmounted by a triangular fronton dates from 1609 and a motto in Latin can be made out. There is a chapel which was used by the Priest l’Abbé Aubin who was a dissenter after the Revolution. • La Fontaine de la Bourse – the spring at la Bourse, the communal spring and wash-house (on private land).

A voir / Must see Saint Hilaire Church

A priory founded, on the site of an earlier chapel, at the end of the X Century was joined to the north side of the church. The priory gardens were on the east and south of the church. A drawing dating from 1859 shows that the priory covered a third of the facade and had a long lean-to (préau) along the north wall of the church which started at Saint Catherine’s side chapel. There were wooden posts and stone pillars which held up a roof with wooden beams. Until the Revolution, the priest was nominated by the Abbey of Bourgueil. After the Revolution the priest of Scillé was a “dissenter” that is he had refused the Concordat of 1801. He died in 1826 and, until his death, ran masses from the chapel at le Logis de la Touche-Paris as part of what was known as “la Petite Eglise”. The official life of the church at Scillé was taken care of by the priests of neighbouring parishes from about 1817. On the 29th June 1825, a Royal Ordonnance separated the church of Scillé from that of Le Busseau (whose priory like that of Scillé had depended on Bourgeuil). A priest lived in Scillé from 1840 onwards. From the first church, only the base of the tower remains. The doorway which gives access to the middle of the nave probably dates from the XV Century. On the East side wall, beginnings of vaults and large arches opening onto the side chapels correspond to what the church used to be like. When the tower was rebuilt in 1994 Romanesque remains were found and these have been placed in the walls on either side of the entrance. After the 100 Years War and the Wars of Religion when the church was mostly destroyed by the protestants of the lord of Puy-Chenin, the semi-circular apse was replaced by a straight apse with a large Gothic bay. The wooden beams were replaced. The western façade is taken up for a third of its length by a house at the place where the old priory used to be.

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