The village of Lessay is situated in Lower Normandy, about five kilometres from the Atlantic coast. The abbey of the Holy Trinity was founded here in 1056 by Turstin Haldup, the Lord of La-Haye-du-Puits. Construction of the abbey began in 1064. In 1080 Duke William confirmed the establishment of the abbey: the Dukes of Normandy used their close relationship with the church throughout their duchy as a means of reinforcing their political control.
The abbey church at Lessay was constructed in the Norman Romanesque style. Most significantly, it is covered with a rib vault both in the choir and in the nave.
The rib vault – an essential element of Gothic architecture – probably originated in the Middle East, and was imported into western Europe by the great monastic orders. Its spread can be traced from northern Italy to Burgundy, through the Loire valley to Normandy. At Lessay, however, the rib is not an isolated architectural element nor is it purely decorative, as it had been up until its arrival in Normandy; it becomes an integrated feature of the vaulting system. Durham cathedral is widely accepted as the first large-scale Romanesque building to use the rib vault (1105-15), but it seems that it was pre-dated by Lessay (1090-1135). Documentary evidence records that the burial of Eudes, son of the founder Turstin, took place in the abbey church in 1098; by this date the east end – choir, transepts, crossing, and perhaps the first three bays of the nave – had been completed with rib vaults. It is entirely reasonable to assume that Anglo-Norman master masons on both sides of the Channel would have been aware of developments in both the duchy and the kingdom.
The nave at Lessay was completed by 1135. The church was finally consecrated in 1178.
The church was not, however, to escape the centuries unscathed. In 1356 it suffered extensive damage in the Franco-Navarrese war and was reconstructed between 1385 and 1420 by abbot Pierre le Roy. It was also badly damaged by aerial bombing during the Battle of Normandy in 1944. After the liberation the French architect Yves-Marie Froidevaux began an exacting reconstruction which took 12 years. Froidevaux’s reconstruction showed great respect for the original design. His work has ensured that the church we see today follows the original design.
The abbey church reflects the major architectural features of Norman Romanesque. The arches are all rounded; the pointed arch was to be introduced to Norman architecture at Durham. The sanctuary consists of an apse in echelon with two bays of rib vaulting. The crossing is topped with a central tower with a pyramid roof. The nave is long (seven bays) and has side aisles vaulted with groin vaults. The length of the nave lends a certain grandeur to the building. The elevation is three-storeyed: large arcades, a gallery with small blind openings, and a clerestory with a passage way and exterior windows.
Lessay is the purest Norman Romanesque building still in existence. The regular rhythm of the pillars and arches, the verticality of the bays, and the purity of the design lend the building a certain nobility. The rib vaulting is innovative: it illustrates the power of Norman architecture and its vital role as a stepping stone between Romanesque and Gothic architecture.
