Auvillars

Auvillars () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region of north-western France.

Geography

Auvillars is located some 14 km north-west of Lisieux and 17 km south-east of Cabourg. Access to the commune is by the D16 road from Léaupartie in the south-west which passes through the centre of the commune and the village and continues to Bonnebosq in the north-east. The D101 passes through the east of the commune as it goes from Cambremer to Pont-l'Évêque. The D59 which connects Bonnebosq to La Boissière passes south through the commune. The commune is entirely farmland except for a few scattered forests.

The Dorette river passes through the centre of the commune from north-east to south-west and it continues south-west to join the Dives at Le Radier. The Mont Dorain rises in the north of the commune and flows south to join the Dorette. The Ruisseau Sainte-Agathe flows from the east to join the Dorette near the village.

{| class="wikitable"

! From !! To !! Name

| 1800 || 1806 || Jean Pierre Conard

| 1806 || 1808 || Jean Baptiste Ménard

| 1808 || 1815 || Jean Baptiste Martin

| 1816 || 1817 || Jacques Constant Fosse

| 1817 || 1825 || Jean Baptiste Martin

| 1825 || 1831 || Robert Baril

| 1832 || 1834 || Jean Baptiste Desfontaines

| 1835 || 1837 || Pierre Augustin Ruelle

| 1837 || 1843 || Jean Pierre de la Morinière

| 1843 || 1851 || Auguste Baudouin

| 1851 || 1872 || Jacques Alexandre Cavelier

| 1872 || 1873 || Jean Pierre Questel

| 1874 || 1879 || Jacques Amand Duval

| 1879 || 1883 || Hyacinthe Suzanne

| 1883 || 1902 || Frédéric Marguerite

| 1933 || 1953 || Alexandre Leprévost

| 1953 || 1981 || René Colard

| 1981 || 1995 || Louis Sandret

| 1995 || 2020 || Pascal Laleman

| 2020 || 2026 || Sébastien Maheut

Demography

The inhabitants of the commune are known as Auvillargeois or Auvillargeoises in French.

Culture and heritage

Civil heritage

The commune has a number of buildings that are registered as historical monuments:

La Bruyère Manor (15th century)
La Bruyère Manor Garden (1972)
A Brickworks (1879)

Religious heritage

thumb|The Church of Saint Germain

thumb|Drawing of the western portal of the church

The commune has one religious building that is registered as an historical monument:

The Church of Saint Germain (12th century)

The Church of Saint Germain

The church is built in a valley about 1 km from the town of Bonnebosq.

The choir

The whole choir dates back to the 12th century. It is lit on the north side by two narrow arched windows devoid of any ornament and very splayed on the inside; to the south is a similar window, enlarged a little on the outside, and a large modern semicircular window. The side walls each have two flat buttresses inside which is a newly built gallery leading to the sacristy placed behind the choir. The choir ends on the eastern side by a right chevet supported by three flat buttresses. There were originally two narrow semicircular windows that have been blocked. The gable is surmounted by an antefix cross.

The nave

The southern wall of the nave, without buttresses, shows a device of fern leaves. It is pierced by a semicircular door whose lintel is decorated with zigzags based on the columns. The arch is topped with grimacing heads of fantastic animals whose tongues are wrapped around a Torus that lines the underside of the arch (see photo). The nave is lit on this side by four very large semicircular windows, three of which are modern. The fourth is a little less wide and lined with a simple bevel and dates from first half of the 16th century when the nave was extended by one bay.

The northern wall was erected in the 16th century. It is flanked by projecting buttresses and pierced by three windows, one flamboyant and divided by a mullion, another a low arch ornamented with prismatic mouldings, and the other a modern window without character. This wall has the remains of a funeral litre.

A stained glass window (1890)
A stained glass window of Saint Germain blessing Saint Genevieve (19th century)
A baptismal font (18th century)
An antependium (18th century)
A processional cross (18th century)
A cross (18th century)
A processional banner (1887)
A statue of the virgin called Sainte Apolline (17th century)
A lectern (18th century)
An altar candle (18th century)
A pulpit (18th century)
Two stained glass windows of the nativity and baptism of Christ (19th century)
An antependium (1709)
A monumental painting in the choir (19th century)
A monumental painting of the crucifixion (19th century)
A monumental painting in the chapel of angels (19th century)
A group of mural paintings (19th century)
A statue of the Virgin and Child (19th century)
An altar tomb in the chapel (18th century)
Two altars, retables, two antepedia, two statues: Saint Germain and Saint Bonaventure (17th century)
Two statues: Saint Germain and Saint Exupère (17th century)
The main altar (19th century)
The main altar: tabernacle, retable (18th century)
A stained glass window of the Virgin and Child, Saint John, Saint Jacques (14th century)

Chapel of Saint-Jean

thumb|The Chapel of Saint-Jean

The Chapel of Saint-Jean stands on a hill 2 kilometres south of the Church of Auvillars. It dates to the last Flamboyant Gothic period and is about 30 feet long by 15 wide. The western gate, flanked by two buttresses, finishes with a very sharp curve which supports a very steep roof. The ogival doorway is decorated with prismatic mouldings and surmounted by a window from the same era. In front of the chapel there are two large poplar trees at the entrance.

The nave is lit by four windows: two full-arched with chamfer and the other two segmented arch. The walls are flanked by protruding buttresses and terminate in a quarter-round cornice.

The chevet on the right is flanked by two buttresses and finishes, as with the portal, with a very sloping curve surmounted by an antefix cross. On the southern wall are the remains of a funeral litre. The heraldic emblems painted on the liter are reproduced inside the chapel. On the side of the epistle there is an ogival pool.

Behind the altar are three niches containing old statues supported by corbels.

The vault of the chapel is paneled with tie beams.

There are several items in the chapel that are registered as historical objects:

Three altar candlesticks (18th century)
Three statues of Saint Mark, the Education of the Virgin, and the Virgin and Child (18th century)
A statue of Saint John the Baptist (16th century)
Two bas-reliefs of Saint John the Baptist and a priest praying (16th century)

The Parish Church of Saint-Philbert

The Parish Church of Saint-Philbert contains one item that is registered as an historical object: