Description:

A drive through the Pays de Bray

The Pays de Bray is an oasis of green comprising forests, pasture and rich plains and which supplies Paris with dairy produce. The principal towns of the pays de Bray are Neufchâtel-en-Bray, Forges-les-Eaux and Gournay-en-Bray. The Pays de Bray is a shallow eliptical bowl surrounded by higher land.  This has given rise to its name ‘La boutonnière’.   The name Bray comes from old French and means wet lands or muddy place and as this name suggests, there are numerous water courses. These include the River Epte, which meanders across the region.  The area is punctuated with little villages, with well-furnished churches.  Much of the furnishings in these churches owe their origins to long destroyed abbeys.

Our tour starts in Gournay-en-Bray and takes us North-West to Forges-les-Eaux - a 20 kilometre journey that would normally take 20 minutes is going to last all day. For those wishing to visit Neufchatel, the town is a further 17 kilometres to the North-West of Forges les Eaux.

The town of Gournay-en-Bray  lies on the River Epte. The town’s economy is based on dairy produce.  The town has a long history and has retained some of its Norman walls, the town gates, an obelisk that predates the revolution and the magnificent collegial church of Saint-Hildevert .  All of these are  well worth a visit.  The town has a good range of small shops and several banks.

From Gournay, we make the short journey to Dampierre-en-Bray . Like Gournay, the local economy depends largely on the dairy industry. There is an outstanding 12th century church which has a sculpted and painted timber roof that dates back to 1504.

Our next stop is Brémontier-Merval, on the edge of the Forest of Lyons. The town’s church is in part Roman. The decorative interior is largely 16th century although there are several 18th century statues that were taken from the abbey that once stood at Bellozane. Close by is the 17th century Chateau of Merval with its brick and stone orangery and magnificent dovecote.

Form here, we travel to Beauvoir-en-Lyons. The town is on the edge of bowl that characterises the Pays de Bray and on a clear day provides a view of the silhouette of Beauvais cathedral in the distance.

Our next stop is Argueil, a town dominated by the mont de Sigy and the mont Sauveur and which is the starting point for a number of walks.  The church has beautifully decorated wooden panels. Opposite the church is a small brick and stone 16^th century chateau set in parkland.

From here, we travel to La Ferté, an ancient stronghold which dominates the valley some 190 metres below. From the place de l’Eglise there is a wonderful panorama of the valley below.  Behind the church is the half-timbered maison Henri IV which was moved here from Dieppe in 1968.

From La Ferté it is just a short distance to our destination, Forges-les-Eaux , which as its name suggests had important iron forges until the 15^th century. Testimony to this, the town’s coat of arms bears an anvil and a pattern of hammers.  The town later became renowned for its earthenware (faïence).

This text is based on an original taken from Jeune Normandie