Organizers / Managers
Presentation
ACEPL is the Association for the Conservation of the Church and Heritage of Larochemillay.
ACEPL is an association under the law of 1901, created on October 24, 2016. It is leading the project to restore the wall paintings in Saint Pierre church through a volunteer workcamp with the Fédération Rempart, and more broadly participates in the conservation of the small heritage of the commune of Larochemillay.
ACEPL's aim is to "protect, safeguard, restore and enhance Larochemillay's built and landscaped heritage, and to rehabilitate the commune's architectural, archaeological, historical and aesthetic heritage".
The workcamps are supervised by a professional restorer, Marie Paule Dubois, and a group leader.
The group is made up of 6 experienced volunteer trainees, accommodated in the communal gite on the church square in Larochemillay, provided by the commune.
Members of the association welcome the group on arrival, and everyone takes it in turns to bring meals and introduce local specialities.
ACEPL's heritage project with Rempart is the restoration of the wall paintings in Larochemillay church.
Description:
The vaulted ceiling is painted blue, dotted with gold stars, while the lower part of the choir is adorned with a red faux-panelled base with blue fillets, topped with a red cross alternating with flowers on a beige background.
In the central nave, the large arches are decorated with various blue and red motifs on a beige background. A plant frieze with a red background marks the junction between the walls and the blue-painted vault, dotted with stars.
The side aisles are punctuated with red-jointed falsework, the arches marked with red palmettes.
The problem :
The overall state of conservation of the church is quite good. The roofs have recently been renovated and the surrounding area cleaned up, particularly the chevet, which was surrounded by trees. Gutters used to run underneath the north-east corner of the building, precisely at the bottom of the walls where the mural paintings are most damaged. In fact, the absence of any external sealing of the lower sections indicates that water infiltration was recurrent in this area.
Given that the church is entirely painted, and that much of the decoration is repetitive, a Rempart workcamp has been set up to restore the decor. However, certain badly damaged areas will have to be treated by a mason beforehand (areas of rendering filled with salts and blackened, cement in the lower parts of the side aisles, etc.).
For the firstRempart projectin 2017, priority was given to the choir, in order to carry out the first emergency work on the severely deteriorated paintings on the west wall (Emmaus pilgrims). A plaster-painted column at the bottom of the west wall was also removed to prevent its collapse.
The second worksite in August 2018 completed the restoration of the choir with the lower section, and restored the first chapel to the right of the choir.
In August 2019, the program includes restoration of the first chapel to the left of the choir, which at one time was badly damaged by water infiltration.
