Standing in the heart of the old center of Bouvignes, at the northern end of the ruins of the count's castle, the Saint-Lambert church stands out in the urban fabric with its high square tower and its astonishing mass. A major element of the architectural heritage of the locality and point of convergence of the urban grouping, it evokes, through its unusual dimensions for a parish church, the grandeur and prosperity that the ancient city of copper beaters experienced in the Middle Ages.
The origins of the building remain poorly known. In the 12th century, it was half owned by the abbey of Floreffe and must, more than likely, have been part of the dowry that the latter gave to Leffe, in 1152, during the founding of the priory. The texts mention a priest as early as 1161; the consecration of the church taking place in 1217.
The building, generally in the Gothic style of the 13th, 15th and 16th centuries, retains some architectural elements from before these periods. A rib-vaulted room located under the north aisle probably belongs to a Romanesque building. If the function of this “crypt” was, originally, of the “constructive” type, intended to compensate for the slope of the land, it seems that it fulfilled other functions. It was fortified and undoubtedly integrated into the defensive system of the castle as evidenced by the presence of an archer in the west wall. The start of a staircase formerly leading to the nave is still in place. The discovery of a sacral in the south wall, subsequent to the construction of the latter, suggests that the cult was celebrated there. Finally, at the entrance to the eastern choir, a semi-circular triumphal arch with a double scroll, with a Romanesque appearance, evokes a reuse of a building from the end of the 12th century.
From the 13th century, the evolution of the building will be conditioned by the pre-existing structures, mainly the tower, of large dimensions, the recovery of which underpinning proves to be a delicate undertaking. The layout and unusual shape of the hexagonal choir attempt to compensate for the lack of openness of the arcade of the tower on which it is attached.
Translated by Google •
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