A VISIT OF THE VILLAGE

Angles is designated as "one of the most beautiful villages in France". It is mainly known for its drawn-thread embroideries (les jours d'Angles) which date from Napoleon III.  Situated in Du Poitou region on the borders of La Touraine and du Berry, the village has an exceptional geographic position. The origins of the name Angles are greatly debated. Most tourist guides say that the name comes from a Germanic tribe who also gave their name to England.

LA PLACE

The town of Angles was surrounded by ramparts with entry through fortified gates. The Porte Blancoise guarded the road to Le Blanc, The Porte Saint-Lazare was on the road to Vicq near la rue Traversiere and the Porte Gimon was on the road to Saint Pierre de Maille in the ville basse near the bridge. In the 17th century there was a covered market on the current village square where all the markets took place. Angles was also a judicial town with dozens of legal clerks, attorneys and taxation authorities. La Place has kept its main features since the 14th century. Many of the houses surrounding the square were used by work parties of ladies doing les jours d'Angles. The War Memorial dates from 1926 and symbolizes a winged victory. It was sculpted by a child of the village, Aime Octobre who won the Grand Prix de Rome in 1893.

LA CHAPELLE SAINT-PIERRE

La Chapelle Saint-Pierre was erected on the highest point of the cliff. Around the chapel the remains of a feudal mound can still be seen today. The Chapelle is separated from the chateau by the tranchee des Anglais: a natural fissure in the rocks adapted by man.. Legend has it that after King Jean Le Bon's defeat to the hands of the English at Maupertuis, the latter arrived in Angles to take the chateau "by carving this passage in the rock, in a single night, in order to take the guards by surprise". Likewise, Bertrand du Guesclin would have taken the chateau back from the English through this passage.

The chapel was erected in the XIIth Century. The present chancel is in the shape of a quarter circle because the original chancel collapsed with the cliff during the XVth century and was roughly rebuilt following the new cliff edge. At present the chapel hosts numerous exhibitions and offers one of the best viewpoints of Angles.

LE CHATEAU

Probably chosen for the strategic position offered by Angles' cliffs (they rise some 50 metres above the Anglin Valley), the castle was built about 1025 by Gilbert, Bishop of Poitiers and came into the possession of the Lusignan family at the beginning of the XII century. In the XIIIth century, the Lusignans sold the Chateau back to Gauthier de Bruges the then Bishop of Poitiers. About 1310 the famous Guichard d'Angle was born in the chateau and during the Hundred years War, took part in the battle of Maupertuis in 1356 with victory to the English. In 1360, under the terms of the Treaty of Bretigny, the fortress chateau was ceded to the English.

However, in 1372 it was retaken by Du Guesclin.

Early in the XVth century two bishops undertook to reshape the old fortress. Hughes de Combarel had lodgings built that already evoked the style of the Renaissance. A concern for pleasure was beginning to prevail over the need for defence. He also had the old dungeon altered and signed his work with a sculpture of his family arms: three Saint-Jacques shells (scallops) and a half-spur wheel. The end of the XVth century heralded the end of the fortress heyday. Pierre d'Amboise had the episcopal residence of Dissay built, which was favoured over the castle of Angles. There followed the religious wars, the Fronde.

In 1708 an assessment of the condition of the fortress was ordered. The Paris Parliament exonerated the Bishops of Poitiers from their duty of maintenance. In 1792 the fortress, although then in ruins, was nevertheless confiscated and the local council decided to use it as a stone quarry. But access was difficult, demand low, and the ruins were saved. The local council bought back the fortress for a symbolic 1 franc in 1986, and have since been working at safeguarding it.

LE CHAMP DE FOIRE

The Fayres in Angles were already important in the middle ages but declined during the Hundred Day Wars. Thanks to Louis XI the fayres were re-established in 1841 and were held on the feasts of Saint Mathew in February and Saint Christopher in July. Today the area is used for The Annual Book Fayre in August, Le Foire de Sainte Jean with its bonfire towards the end of June and the traditional fayre on the day of the Fireworks on the first Sunday in August

.L'EGLISE SAINT-MARTIN

The village church was mentioned in 1090. The bell tower, with its roman colonnade arches and sculptured capitals is one of the few remaining parts of the original building. The lower arches were filled in to strengthen the building when the church was reshaped in the XIXth century.

The current Marie just behind the church, was the original presbytery and large enough to board and lodge pilgrims on their way to Saint Jacques de Compostelle.

LA HUCHE CORNE

Today this provides one of the best panoramic viewpoints in the village. It was used by soldiers looking for enemies approaching the village. Hucher signified the call made by the soldiers with a horn to warn the villagers of approaching assailants.

L'ARCEAU

The natural cellars that can be seen in a number of places were warehouses for salt traded at the Medieval Fayres in Angles was stored, together with a store for contraband salt. The architecture is inspired by the Saracens.

LA CUEILLE

This ancient steep pathway which connects the ville basse with the ville haute takes its name from the villagers cueillaient who collected water at the bottom of the path.

LA MAISON DU CARDINAL BALUE

This old house is found on the rue du Pont near the bottom of La Cueille. Jean Balue was born in Angles in 1421. He is known mainly for having invented the notorious fillettes du roi, the iron cages that unfortunately for him he was asked "to test" by Louis XIVth because of his subsequent betrayals and misdeeds.

LES BOTTES

This interesting path through the rocks from the the rue du pont, via a small archway, to La Huche Corne, was the first route between ville basse and ville haute. Its name is attributed to the footprints allegedly formed by soldiers in their hobnailed boots. Another explanation is that the locals were so devoted to their King and Bishop that they drove away satan who came to convert them to the devil. Satan ran down Les Bottes burning footprints in the rock as he escaped.

LE PONT

The original bridge in the middle ages provided the main crossing point linking the ville basse with ville haute. In 1740 major floods and ice destroyed the bridge supports. It was too expensive for the village to rebuild the bridge and a ferry became the crossing method. It was between 1842 and 1845 that a new wooden bridge was built linking the new road to Maille of 1835 cut through the ruins of the Abbey of Sainte-Croix. The current stone bridge dates from the 1920's.

LES MOULINS

Angles had three watermills. The one located at the base of the cliffs near the bridge was the abbey mill reserved for the monks and the residents of Sainte-Croix. During the French Revolution the mill, considered to be church property, was sold by auction and over the years went through a number owners and functions including sawmill and flour mill. It was eventually closed in 1968 and is now a private residence.

Remerle located downstream from the village was the moulin banel or community mill.

Upstream was Moulin de Pre or mill of the meadows . Today, unfortunately, both Remerle and Moulin de Pre are in disrepair.

.LA CHAPELLE SAINTE-CROIX

Having passed over the bridge, the small road descending immediately after the bridge leads you to La Chapelle Sainte-Croix. The abbey originates circa 1040 and the period of Isembert I. In 1088 Hugues VI de Lusignan offered the church to the Abbey Saint-Cyprien of Poitiers. Around 1094 Pope Urbain II had the Benedictine monks replaced with regular canons of the Saint-Augustin order, who held the abbey until the French Revolution. It was not until the end of the XIIth century that the abbey church was erected, the remains of which can be seen today. Started in 1175 it was consecrated in 1192 in the reign of Philippe Auguste.

The abbey soon prospered with numerous donations and exchanges with the abbey of Merci-Dieu near La Roche Posay. However at the end of the Hundred Years War, in 1428, resources had dwindled so much that only 10 of the 24 monks could remain. In 1768, towards the end of Louis XV's reign, only 5 monks still remained. Abbots succeeded one another but from the end of the XVIth century Sainte-Croix became a de-commissioned abbey.

During the Revolution the canons' houses surrounding the abbey, and dating from the XVth century and earlier, were sold as State assets to private buyers, but the abbey remained State property with no one maintaining it. Today the beautiful Romanesque western doorway is an historic monument.

The road linking Angles to Saint-Pierre de Maille was built in 1835 through the abbey ruins.

CIMETIERE DE LA VILLE BASSE

This old cemetery on the banks of the Anglin was established in 1343. Here stands a croix hosanniere. On Palm Sunday the faithful walked in procession singing "hosanna" which is in fact a jewish chant that has slipped into the christian vocabulary meaning "save us please".