Priory of Breuil in Commercy (Meuse)
Plan de Relance. Restoration work on the terrace and staircase of the Priory of Breuil in Commercy (55).
Property: municipality of Commercy
Amount of the state subsidy
€296,997: 100% Economic recovery plan (out of €600,000)
Work Begins: Final Quarter 2021
Protection as historical monuments
The terrace with its balustrade, its retaining wall with its arcades, the stair-bridge over the Breuil, the fish tanks (cad. AH 412) and the ground of plot AH 413: classification by order of 18 June 2008. The protection of the building is completed by the following protective measures: The priory, excluding the classified parts: inscription by order of 23 December 1926 - The facades and roofs; the west wing staircase with its wrought iron ramp (cad. AH 413) : classification by decree of 4 April 1984 - The former Priory Garden with its fencing walls (except the modern gymnasium) (cad. AH 383, 411, 412, 505): inscription by decree of 20 July 1995
Presengeneral construction of the building
Rebuilt between 1714 and 1754 by the architect Léopold Durand, the Benedictine priory of Breuil still retains three 18th century wings spread around a cloister and some of the garden-related facilities designed around 1722.
The terrace probably built during the creation of the garden offers a view of the latter and allows access to it by a monumental staircase. The complex rests on a series of arcades housing a basin fed by the priory’s rainwater and a spring gushing under the mound that supports the building.
The priory is built on a natural rocky massif. In the basement, some rocks are on the ground. The construction of the terrace is posterior to the building of the priory. Before its construction, a staircase dating from the XVIIIe century was probably leaning against the building. However, it is impossible to distinguish the part of the terrace laid on the rock from that laid on the natural ground.
One of the few clues to support a hypothesis on the design of the work is the irregular background of the four arcades. Thus, the walls of the back of the arcades were built following the rocky massifs of the ground. The creation of the terrace is most likely related to the operation and access to the garden that extended to the north of the building.
Presentation of disorders
The entire terrace is in an alarming state of health (abundant vegetation, masonry floors, lacunary balustrade, lack of security of the stairs, cracking of the slabs, etc.). However, the diagnosis established in 2015 did not identify any structural problem and the devers of the railings is the consequence of the obsolescence of the maintenance work. Weaknesses in the foundations of the terrace arcades could be the cause of the collapse of its balustrade. Indeed, the retaining wall of the terrace seems to be based on a more malleable ground and different from the hard ground (probably rocky) on which are built the walls of the bottom of the arcades. This difference in support causes settling phenomena.
Presentation of the catering bias
The alarming sanitary condition of the terrace, linked to a lack of maintenance for many years, led the municipality of Commercy to intervene after the completion of the restoration of the priory’s facades. An archaeological study was carried out to determine the location of the various water networks that could be restored during the intervention.
The restoration of this terrace in compliance with the original provisions will allow the restoration of an exceptional structure in terms of the hydraulic heritage and the history of the gardens while constituting the last phase of restoration of the priory of Breuil.