An unexpected discovery

Recently we visited an artisan in Bonnay, who produces miniature wooden things. Not only does he make tiny little toys and elaborate knickknacks, very popular in the sixties to be displayed in type cases, no, next to his workshop he has a small museum where he displays all the items he has made in the past. He keeps one specimen of everything he has ever fabricated for this museum.

Everything moves!

One of the cutest things for sale at the moment is a tiny workbench of not higher than 2 inches, of which the vice actually can be operated by a thin wooden handle. Apart from items for sale he has a beautiful collection of music boxes, a merry-go-round, a clock (of which the only part not made of wood is the protective glass casing), a large wall cabinet with many small doors carrying the names of professions; opening a door will bring a violin maker into action, etc. etc.
This museum is certainly worth a visit, and to get an impression of the work of Joël and Maryse Dedianne, click here.

The old bell tower (left)

One of the walls of the museum is covered with information about Bonnay and surroundings. A picture of a piece of wall in opus spicatum caught my eye, the only part still existing of the original Romanesque church of Bonnay. Next to it a blow-up of an old picture postcard was displayed, showing the bell tower of that church next to the new church. The tower still existed around 1935.
I am now 100% convinced that the piece of wall, about which I once wrote a blog, indeed belonged to a church one day!


Bonnay is at cycling distance from La Tuilerie de Chazelle.

The Wailing Wall

As I have mentioned before, the website "le site sur l'Art Roman en Bourgogne" offers a big variety of data on the subject. Reading through the churches in the vicinity I stumbled upon Bonnay, a village just down the road. The site mentioned about the church : dedicated to Sainte-Marie; a former church; a building that does not rank very high when it comes to impressive architecture.
I am not a Roman Catholic, and I am certainly no expert when it comes to architecture. Despite this I think that even a lay man can see that this church cannot be much older than 150 year. And to which Saint this church could be dedicated is something I certainly could not even start to guess.

The new church in Bonnay

Eduard van Boxtel held the key to this mistery. The building of this church (the Sainte-Marie) commenced in 1881. However, before that time there had been another Sainte-Marie; the original church was demolished at the end of the 19th century. The only thing that rests was a piece of wall, with stones laid in a herringbone pattern (this is called Opus Spicatum by those in the know).
I like puzzles, but how does one find a piece of wall with a herringbone pattern? The pattern I knew from other churches, like the Saint-Laurent in Tournus, but was it hidden in the wall of a residence, or in the wall of the new church? In a word, how does one find this bit of wall?
First we asked some friends who lived near Bonnay, but without success. Next we found out that the mairie of Bonnay was open on a Tuesday morning, so that was the day to go there. Fortunately the mayor was at the mairie, and he knew where to find this wall. According to him it was a piece of garden wall at the Place de l'église, near the new church, on a little border with some shrubs. The mayor made it very clear that all resemblance with a proper church would be purely coincidental.
Anyway, we went to the Place de l'église and found a small garden wall, not even 3 feet high and a couple of yards long, in which the herringbone pattern was easily recognisable.
For all my photographs on the subject, click click here.
One thing is sure; if there are more of these hidden or lost churches around here that need to be found, we will not become bored very soon!

The remains of the old church in Bonnay

Practical information (courtesy of Eduard van Boxtel) :
Former church (ruin) Sainte-Marie in Bonnay, 10th century, 1*

For our own website click here.