La Hérie Église Saint-Pierre

What you need to know about this church

Église Saint-Pierre La Hérie

Where to find this church

Church Information

Église Saint-Pierre is located in La Hérie, a small village with 129 inhabitants in the Département Aisne about 6 km south-west of the town of Hirson in the Département Aisne in the région Hauts-de-France.

A key is available from the Mairie (see below)

This church was listed as a historical monument in 1989

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La Hérie Église Saint-Pierre
Church from south-west

Visiting Église Saint-Pierre

What is now the nave is a rectangular building with very thick walls, flanked by two diagonally arranged round towers, now shortened. One tower is to the left of the door, the other serves as a sacristy.

The 1st floor is reached by a very narrow, straight staircase set into a thick wall.
The first floor is provided with embrasures and weir cores. One projects over the choir, which was obviously added to the nave. On the three-part chancel is an inscription: AB 1687.

Further evidence of the later character of the choir is that the passage connecting the nave to the choir is particularly narrow (about 3 metres).

If one disregards the choir, which was added later, the present church does not belong to religious, but to purely military architecture.

Another indication that supports the above thesis: the neighbouring village of Eparcy (which, like La Hérie, was subject to the abbey of Foigny) definitely had a “fort” that was converted into a church; however, this no longer exists today.

The church is normally locked, but you can get a key during the opening hours of the Mairie (see tourism page, link above).

This allowed us to visit the inside of the church during our Easter 2024 tour.

Church from the north