Saint Thomas of Canterbury

High altar ensemble

The curved altar and its painted and gilded wooden altarpiece with Corinthian capitals and foliage-adorned wings perfectly match their date of 1769. They replaced an altar made in 1698 by Thomas and Richard Saulet. The central painting is an Adoration of the Magi based on the work by Bernardino Luini kept at the Louvre. The painting is signed Guillot but undated.

Wood panelling in the chancel

Dating from the 17th century. It alternates panels with imposing mouldings with Ionic pilasters featuring elegant leaf motifs. The upper frieze is finely carved, notably with monograms likely linked to the seigneurial family, as this panelling originates from the former church at Brécy, now the castle chapel. Of note is the almost invisible sacristy door, which blends seamlessly into the panelling.

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Side altars and their statues

Built in limestone on either side of the nave, they have an atypical shape for the region. They can be dated to the late 18th or even 19th century. The beautiful twisted Corinthian columns flanking the altarpieces are thought to come from the former high altar. Two 18th-century statues feature on them: the Virgin and Child on the north side and Saint Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and patron saint of the church, on the south side

Plaque commemorating the 1870 war

While plaques commemorating the Great War are common on the walls of churches in Calvados, those relating to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 are much rarer. However, monuments linked to this conflict are the earliest examples of monuments paying tribute to those who died for their country. Logically, they are more numerous in northern and eastern France, near the conflict zones, but Calvados has a few.

Christ on the rood beam

This carved wooden Christ on the cross probably dates from the 17th century. It is attached to the rood beam that marks the entrance to the choir, the most sacred space in the sanctuary. In some churches, this feature is accompanied by a low wrought iron choir screen. While Christ is often alone in Bessin and Bocage, in Pays d'Auge he may be flanked by statues of Our Lady of Sorrows and Saint John the Evangelist.  

Graves

In the cemetery, near the church door, there is a series of rather unusual graves. Their epitaphs are no longer legible today – one of the drawbacks of our local limestone. However, the presence of carved decorations depicting ecclesiastical items – a pastoral stole, a crucifix and a maniple – logically reveals the role of their occupants: former parish priests, probably from the 19th century.

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