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The church of Courmelois is dedicated to Saint Maur, a priest martyred in the 4th century BC by the Romans at Buxitus, that is to say on the current fort of La Pompelle. A feast is dedicated to him on August 23.
The first writings relating the existence of the church date from the 12th century. At that time, it was probably an oriented nave located on the site of the current nave. The church is a former possession of the abbey of Saint Basle, in Verzy. In order to reduce the excessive number of municipalities, and because of their small size, the villages of Courmelois, Wez and Thuisy "merged" into a single municipality following the decree of September 15, 1965, to become Val- de-Vesle. It seems that there is no more worship in Saint Maur following this event, the church of Wez having been chosen as the communal church of Val-de-Vesle.
On January 5, 1920, Saint Maur was classified as a Historic Monument, at the request of the architect of the Historic Monuments, Monsieur Ventre, especially because of the interest of the transept and the apse, which remained intact. He expresses himself in these terms: "the proportions of the choir, composed of arcades for the lower parts, windows with columns and oculi illuminating the vaults, give a particularly interesting aspect and make this church one of the best composed and most characteristic of the region". The classification creates the need for regular maintenance of the church, and protects it from demolition.
In 1922, however, the town requested the partial decommissioning of the church, probably because of the excessive reconstruction costs generated by the classification. The nave is considered "modern and uninteresting". This request is accepted, and only the choir, the transept and the bell tower remain classified.
A Romanesque church in Champagne
Saint Maur is one of 66 churches built entirely or partly in the Romanesque style, the major characteristic of which is the semicircular arch. These have many points in common in terms of plan, elevation and decoration, so that it is possible that a Romanesque school in Champagne existed.
The Romanesque parts of the building visible today are the crossing of the transept and the square tower which surmounts it. These elements date from the 12th century. The Marne suffered from the 12th century a strong influence of Gothic, and the church will be completed in Gothic style. In fact, the geographical location of the church of Courmelois has greatly influenced its history. The diocese of Reims being very extensive, it is located on the borders of the Paris region and the Pays d'Empire, respectively characterized by the Gothic style and the Romanesque style.
As in the Romanesque style buildings, there is a relatively sober decoration, mainly located on the capitals, and here consisting of intertwined human figures and/or plants.
The cornices of the walls are also a place where the carved decorations take refuge. Simple modillion cornices are common and are found here in the apse, between the blind arches of the wall and the windows. The Romanesque style in Champagne presents portals almost devoid of decorations, as is the case here, whereas they are richly decorated in most Romanesque churches in other French regions.
An elegant construction
The church of Courmelois consists of a nave with 3 bays without aisles, although they existed. The traces are still visible both outside and inside the church, on the arm of the transept located to the north. This nave and the facade were rebuilt after the First World War, because they had been almost destroyed. Before the war, the nave was not vaulted, but it was surmounted by a wooden floor. A wooden vestibule covered the staircase leading to it, and the floor was 50 centimeters higher. This part of the church, relatively modern, was made in a sober style which blends in with the rest of the building but whose recent appearance is clearly visible.
The transept dates from the 12th century. The crossing rests on four large pillars with capitals with lanceolate leaves, and above rises a square tower topped with a pyramidal roof. In the south arm of the transept there is a fleur-de-lis tiling, probably dating from before the revolution. In the north transept, there is a painting representing a Virgin and Child accompanied by Saint Anne, her mother.
The apse is a little later and dates from the 13th century. The vaults were modified, like those of the transept, in the 16th century. That of the apse presents a hanging key with a sculpted Christ.
Consisting of 7 sides, the apse is largely lit by a skylight of 11 ogival windows, surmounted by oculi. Above these windows is a cord with plant decoration, and a blind arcature which dresses and gives rhythm to the wall. There are traces of ocher and red polychromy dating from the 14th and 16th centuries. In the center, we find Saint Maur, on his left Saint Éloi, and on his right, Saint Jean-Baptiste. The second statue to his right, whose head has been broken off, is that of Saint Basle, patron saint of the deanery of Vesle. In front of it, we find Saint Médard. The meaning of the capitals is sometimes difficult to elucidate. We easily recognize the capital located at the bottom left of the statue of Saint Maur: Adam and Eve crunching the apple. For the others, plant and aquatic motifs are present, due to the marshy environment of the church, but one can also assume that other scenes from the Bible are represented there.
On the exterior walls, more particularly on the chevet, one can see inscriptions, such as dates or names engraved in stone. They made it possible to meditate on the tomb of a deceased: indeed, until the 19th century, the tombs of the people of the "people" were not delimited and included neither crosses nor monuments.
We always tried to be buried as close as possible to the choir, which depended on the social situation of the deceased. There are other commemorative inscriptions, such as the one left by the soldiers of the 154th Infantry Regiment during a visit to Courmelois during the war.
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An important actress in the history of Saint Maur: Madame Danré de Loupeigne
The church of Saint Maur benefited, around 1840, from the support of Madame Antoinette Marie Marguerite Danré de Loupeigne, widow of Monsieur Clude Félix Deu of Vieux-Dampierre. To restore luster to the church, and perhaps also leave her mark, as shown by the marble slab located in the south arm of the transept, the chatelaine will invest considerable sums. However, she does not ask the opinion of the architect of the Historic Monuments of the time, Mr. Brunette. This one will write besides, in 1845, that “the church resembles an industrial store and that the cage of the clock is a dovecote”. However, the case will not be followed up and no action will be taken against Mrs. Danré de Loupeigne.
Among the most remarkable fruits of this patronage, we can cite:
* the tiling of the apse and the tiling of the nave
* the construction of a sacristy on the right side of the apse, which has now disappeared
* the enlargement of the windows of the nave which have been fitted with white stained-glass windows edged in color
* the addition of two bells in the tower
* the installation of a baroque-style altar
Unfortunately, some of these elements are no longer present.
The successive modifications undergone by the Saint Maur church over the centuries have never altered its elegance and the dynamism of its lines. Its dimensions on a human scale give it all its charm.
If worship is no longer celebrated there, it has been able to host other events, including various exhibitions. In 1986, the artists and visual artists grouped together within the SILO association took over the premises in order to exhibit their creations.
Amandine Gandon, Laon, 2001.