We now view the oldest parish enclosure at La Martyre, dating from the 1450s.
Its most striking feature, at least the one most immediately seen, is that the church door is seriously out of plumb.
One of the figures on the door is playing lacrosse, or something very like it.
In the porch, when you reach for some holy water in the stoop, you are met by Ankou, Death.
La Martyre is where we found this image among many on the ossuary wall.
An anonymous commenter suggested this was an image of the Ossuarian doing his job. Hey, could be! Hadn't thought of that. (Oh! By the way, when you use the "Anonymous" comment method, it would be great if you'd include your name. Unless you really want to be anonymous of course. But if you are selecting "Anonymous" just to avoid the hassle of having to sign in, stick your name in the comment so we can tell who said what.)
Down the road we go to La Roche Maurice. Here the spire has two levels of gallery.
Here there's a stoup on the ossuary that is again surmounted by Ankou.
You can trace the inscription "IE:VOUS:TVE:TOVS" or Je vous tue tous, I kill you all. This kind of puts us in mind of the French cigarette packages. The bottom half of the front of each packet is filled by the mandated words FUMER TUE (SMOKING KILLS). Maybe they should add a picture of Ankou?
In the church, the nave is high creating a tranquil space.
The rood beam at La Roche Maurice wins the rood-beam prize.
Above the rood beam the ceiling is painted with angels and stars.
Here are the grotesques from the altar side of the rood beam
Wait! They're wearing goggles and riding toboggans?
This church has a window from 1539.
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