3. Gournay-en-Bray to Troussures

Entirely built in brick, Saint-Martin is a very representative example of the use of this material in the 16th century, the date of the church being assured by a dedication on 29th March 1541.

The bell tower was built on the facade between 1870 and 1872 to replace the old one, a frame construction located in the centre of the building.

Saint-Martin also possesses a real treasure with its lead baptismal basin, dating from the 12th century. The seven plaques that make it up are decorated with Romanesque arcatures that house alternating plant decoration and characters among whom we recognize the blessing Christ or Saint Peter, with his key. In the apse, two windows in the apse have preserved 16th century stained glass windows that have been awkwardly reassembled (2006).

Saint-Germer-de-Fly Abbey was founded in the 630s by Saint Germer, after a solid training at the Beauvais Episcopal School he became one of King Dagobert's counsellors and then of Clovis II. He asked to leave the court to enter the monastery after his widowhood. He was sent by Saint Ouen (Dadon, son of Authaire de Ussy, received the blessing of St Colomban) to the territory of Fly to found a monastery there in 655. This foundation is part of the movement of Luxovien monasticism in the 7th century. An indication confirms this filiation between Luxeuil and Beauvaisis. In the 19th century, a manuscript of the homilies of Saint Augustine, written in the 7th century at the Luxeuil abbey, was found in the library of the castle of Troussures. It comes from the library of the Beauvais cathedral. On the last page of the manuscript, we read that it was completed in the monastery of Luxeuil, in the 12th year of a king named Clotaire.
This monastery was ravaged by the Vikings in the 8th century, then in 851, before being rebuilt from 1036 onwards. It developed a great prosperity, which grew even more after the return of part of the relics of the holy founder in 1132. Thanks to the influx of donations, the construction of a new abbey church could then begin. This vast and proud abbey church, built between 1135 and 1206 approximately, and its chapel of the Virgin, are today the main testimonies of the powerful abbey of the Middle Ages, whose monastic life died out with the French Revolution in 1790. The abbey-church became the parish church of the current village of Saint-Germer-de-Fly. It is considered a characteristic example of the first Gothic generation, not because of its size or beauty, but because of its innovative character. It is one of the oldest examples of Gothic art in France. The Chapel of the Virgin was built in the 1260s in the radiant Gothic style.

The old castle of Troussures, destroyed in 1874, was rebuilt by Ludovic Le Caron de Troussures (1829-1914) in a neo Louis XIII style. Father Doncoeur, organizer of the spiritual retreats "It takes two women to make a saint: his wife and his mother! "and Father Caffarel, founder of the Notre Dame teams, are associated with the life of this place. Troussures will see the stay of Father Chenu (Dominican), Teilhard de Chardin (anthropologist), Gaston Fessard (philosopher), Jean Daniélou (theologian and historian), Henri de Lubac, or the playwright Jean Anouilh, Léopold Delisle, historian and discoverer of the Merovingian manuscript of Luxeuil in the library of the Château de Troussures. A new chapel was built on the site of the former library of the castle in the early 2000s by the architect Michel Macary,
Since Easter 1997, the priory has welcomed the community of St. John with brothers who organize retreats and sessions, and a community of contemplative sisters. The community also occupies the old farm of the castle at the entrance to the village and has built an annex, the Montjoie house. The complex is called Notre-Dame-de-Cana Priory.