Marbois is a village in the Eure, in the Normandy region, 25 km south-west of Evreux.
The town was officially created on 1 January 2016, following the merger of the villages of Le Chesne (591 inhabitants), Chanteloup (92 inhabitants), Les Essarts (448 inhabitants) and Saint-Denis-du-Béhélan (205 inhabitants), a total of nearly 1,400 inhabitants.
The communal territory belongs to the plateau of Saint-André, consisting of cereal crops, small woods and groves preserved after the clearing of the Middle Ages, the whole being dotted with ponds, which explains the name was chosen for the new locality.
Possessed by seigniorial dynasties, the lands of the old fiefs are still marked with numerous hamlets, a large part of the houses being made up now of secondary residences (the Paris region is with less than one hour of road). It is that the small heritage and the green environment of Marbois are indeed conducive to the change of scenery.
In addition to fountains or wash houses, the built heritage of the new town is summarized, on the former village of Chesne, the remains of the old seigniorial domain, located near the Notre-Dame church, whose bases date from the sixteenth century. Built in stone, it was remodeled and enlarged later, and benefited from an interior restoration in the early 1990s. Note that are preserved the ornaments and costumes of a fraternity of charity related to the parish, founded in the sixteenth century. century and was active until the mid-20th century.
Still on the religious level, at a place called Le Tilleul, the chapel Saint-Gourgon is what remains of an old priory then attached to the abbey of Lyre.
The former parish of Saint-Denis-du-Béhélan depended on the same abbey. In the village, the church dedicated to Saint-Denis dates for its oldest parts of the thirteenth century. It was remodeled in a Renaissance style in the sixteenth century. It is from this period that remains the western facade, consisting of a chessboard of white stone and flint, very characteristic of the time and the region. Standing up to dominate the plain, with its very homogeneous and very typical architecture, the church remains one of the strong identity images of the town.
The residences of the powerful old families on this stronghold have suffered time. To see nevertheless, the old manor of Behélan at the farm of the same name. It dates from the early seventeenth century and its timber-framed architecture is beautifully crafted. If it dated from the same period, the manor of the Epinay has been very reworked and has nothing in common with its original appearance. Note finally that the castle of Limeux, which was the only listed monument of the territory was destroyed in 2010 by its owners.
On the old town of Essarts, the church of Saint-Jacques is rather imposing, and dates from the sixteenth century and its bell tower of the eighteenth, in this case a bell-tower porch square plan.
Finally, on Chanteloup, the church Saint-Ouen with its nave and its choir of Romanesque style, can be worth the glance although the whole is in bad condition...
Still, it is mainly for its green environment, its paths drawn in the fields and punctuated with groves that we will be able to take full advantage of Marbois the well named... For circuits of hiking or VTT including the points of interest of the common, documentation and information on +33 2 32 62 04 27.
As for fishing enthusiasts, they can also find their happiness. Contact the +33 2 32 57 10 73 to know the developed sites and the regulations to respect.
