Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère
Church
Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère, located in Hocquinghen (Pas-de-Calais), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Hocquinghen, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.7689, 1.9275
- Mérimée Reference
- PA62000149
At the top of a hill overlooking the Boulonnais region, the church of Saint-Omer and its 17th-century presbytery form a rare heritage ensemble, housing sumptuous Cordoba leathers that are listed as historic monuments.
History
Perched on a green hillock surrounded by an ancient cemetery, Saint-Omer church and its presbytery are one of the best-preserved examples of rural heritage in the Pas-de-Calais. Away from the beaten tourist track, this discreet site nevertheless offers a lesson in architecture and history that many more famous monuments cannot match. The landscape quality of this site, highlighted by a manor house and farm below, has become exceptionally rare in a region that has been profoundly transformed by centuries of agricultural labour and the scars of war. What really sets this ensemble apart is the unsuspected wealth of its interiors. The presbytery preserves a series of Cordoba leather panels - these embossed, gilded and painted leather hangings, emblems of Spanish luxury in the Baroque period - whose beauty has nothing to envy the great aristocratic residences of the region. Listed as historic monuments since 1978, these leathers bear witness to refined taste and active trade links between northern France and Iberian and Flemish workshops in the 17th century. The visit is as much an archaeological discovery as a contemplative stroll. You walk up to the church along the gravestones of the cemetery, looking out over the Boulonnais countryside. Inside the presbytery, the panelling, door overlay and cupboard built into the masonry evoke the solemn daily life of a rural clergyman concerned with decorum, living somewhere between the rigour of the Tridentine era and the bourgeois comforts of the Louis XIII period. Since 2015, the entire complex has been listed as a historic monument, a symbolic act that confirms the inseparability of the church and the presbytery. This official recognition guarantees the preservation of a site where every stone, every leather panel and every door fitting tells the story of several centuries of religious and civil history in the north of France.
Architecture
Saint-Omer church has a simple plan with a single nave, typical of rural buildings in the north of France, and a slightly projecting chancel whose late Gothic style can be seen in the treatment of the plainly-narrowed bays and the buttresses punctuating the outer sides. The materials used are those of the Boulonnais region: greyish limestone extracted from local quarries, which gives the building the soft, slightly silvery hue so typical of the Artois and Boulonnais landscapes. The roof, covered in flat tiles or slate depending on the successive alterations, blends in naturally with the green silhouette of the hillock. The adjoining presbytery, built around 1650, adopts the sober classical vocabulary in use during the regency of Anne of Austria: a facade with regular bays, moulded window surrounds and a discreet cornice, while retaining a rustic country feel that sets it apart from urban town houses. Together with the church, the building forms an asymmetrical but balanced composition, whose unity is reinforced by the commonality of materials and the continuity of the landscape enclosed by the cemetery wall. It is inside the presbytery that the site's architectural and decorative wealth lies. Panels of Cordoba leather, stretched over the walls like tapestries, create shimmering surfaces with embossed and gilded floral and geometric motifs. The wood panelling, sculpted door overlay and cupboard set into the masonry complete an interior décor with a stylistic coherence that is rare for a building of this nature, revealing an ornamental programme that was carefully thought out and executed in the heart of the 17th century.
Related Figures
Saint Omer (évêque de Thérouanne, VIIe siècle) — évangélisateur de la Morinie, saint patron tutélaire de l'égliseCuré bâtisseur anonyme (vers 1650) — commanditaire probable du presbytère et de son décor intérieurSeigneur local du Boulonnais (XVIIe siècle) — bienfaiteur supposé ayant contribué à l'acquisition des cuirs de CordoueArtisans flamands de Malines ou d'Anvers (XVIIe siècle) — fabricants des panneaux de cuir de Cordoue ornant le presbytère
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère located?
Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère is located in Hocquinghen, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère built?
Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Omer et ancien presbytère is currently closed to visitors.