Église Notre-Dame ("The Church of Our Lady") is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

located on Rue de la Paix, in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, department of

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

, in northern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It dates from the 12th century, and chiefly from the 14th century. Arguably, it is the only church built in the English perpendicular style in all of France.

History

The church was damaged during the early wars between France and England, especially in 1346-47, after the

Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...

. Many of the kings and queens of France and England prayed here; and

John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners (1467 – 19 March 1533) was an English soldier, statesman and translator. Family John Bourchier, born about 1467, was the only son of Sir Humphrey Bourchier (d.1471 at the Battle of Barnet) and Elizabeth Ti ...

is buried in the church choir. On 11 July 1469

George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (21 October 144918 February 1478), was the 6th son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of English kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the ...

, the third surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and

Cecily Neville Cecily Neville (3 May 1415 – 31 May 1495) was an English noblewoman, the wife of Richard, Duke of York (1411–1460), and the mother of two kings of England— Edward IV and Richard III. Cecily Neville was known as "the Rose of Raby", beca ...

, and the brother of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Kings Edward IV and

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...

, was married to

Isabel Neville Lady Isabel Neville (5 September 1451 – 22 December 1476) was the elder daughter and co-heiress of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick (the ''Kingmaker'' of the Wars of the Roses), and Anne de Beauchamp, suo jure 16th Countess of Warwick ...

, by Rt. Revd. George Neville,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

. The tower of Notre Dame church was used as an observation point for the

Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) The Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) was the geodetic survey to measure the relative position of Greenwich Observatory and the Paris Observatory via triangulation. The English operations, executed by William Roy, consisted of the measureme ...

, which used

trigonometry Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics that studies relationships between side lengths and angles of triangles. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies. T ...

to calculate the precise distance between the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its histor ...

and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Cross-channel sightings were made in September and October 1787 of signal lights at

Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the ...

and Fairlight Down, and vice versa. In 1785, after the first hot air balloon crossing of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

Jean-Pierre Blanchard Jean-Pierre rançoisBlanchard (4 July 1753 – 7 March 1809) was a French inventor, best known as a pioneer of gas balloon flight, who distinguished himself in the conquest of the air in a balloon, in particular the first crossing of the Englis ...

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

ordered the balloon and boat be hung up in the church. In 1843 some medieval paintings were discovered under a thick coat of whitewash by Monsieur. C. de Rheims. One comprised a female figure holding in her right hand an orange coloured shield charged with nine ''bezants d’or''; her left hand resting on a spear with banner displayed, and charged as the shield. At her feet was a kneeling figure; in the background a fortified city. Another painting represented the Virgin with the infant Jesus, and a figure, apparently a bishop with episcopal staff, kneeling and invoking her. Each of the frescoes was surrounded with a border on which the motto ''Le Jour Viendra'' occurred ten times, alternately separated by a club of gold entwined with branches and flowers, with the arms of the Woodhouse family, one of whom was the embellisher of the church and the originator of the paintings. At the bottom of the former painting was written ''Orate pro anima Thoms Wodehous''. It was classified as a

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

on 13 September 1913.

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

and Yvonne Vendroux were married in the church on 7 April 1921. It was bombarded by Allied Forces on 23 September 1944. It was substantially damaged and the bell tower fell through the roof into the north transept. A campaign of restoration began in the 1960s. *1963-1973: Reconstruction of the nave and bell tower *1976 onwards: Addition of stained glass windows by Gérard Lardeur *2002-2013: Restoration of the choir and chapel.

Architecture and fittings

The church is large and has a fortress-like appearance. Its layout is in the shape of a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

. There is a large

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with aisles, north and south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s, a choir with choir-aisles, and a side chapel. A notable feature is the high altar, mostly completed by 1626, which has carvings and

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

. A pedestal and a statue are dated 1628, while two other statues were added in 1629, and the balustrades finished in 1648. It was made by Adam Lottman. The painting “the Assumption of the Virgin” is by

Gerard Seghers Gerard SeghersGerard Seghers
at the

Peter Paul Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

of the ''Descent from the Cross''. It is in fact by Pieter Van Mol.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglise Notre-Dame De Calais Buildings and structures in Calais 12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in France Churches in Pas-de-Calais Monuments historiques of Pas-de-Calais