From Saint-Sylvain to Soignolles via the Grand and Petit Fauces

Parking is available in the car park of Saint-Sylvain Town Hall on the Rue des Canadiens side, near the church.

(S/E) From the car park, return to the main road (D 183). Cross the road with care, turn left, continue to the roundabout and then turn right onto the D 43 towards Cauvicourt. Cross Rue Georges Aubey with care, take the left-hand pavement and walk about 100 m to the right.

(1) Turn left onto Chemin des Fauces.

(2) At Petit Fauces, ignore the path on the left (which will be the return route) and go straight on. Keep right at the fork to reach the Grand Fauces manor house.

(3) Go round the property, following the stone wall on the left, and continue to the crossroads; there is a small copse of trees in one of the corners on the right.

(4) Turn left towards Soignolles, leaving the Bois de la Petite Bruyère on your right. Ignore the two paths you come across along the way, take the bend to the right and continue to the church.

(5) After the church, turn left onto the D260 towards Saint-Sylvain (Rue des Glycines) and stay on this road until you leave the village. About 200 m further on, cross the D260 with care to take the path on your left running alongside a small hedge. Ignore the path on the left and continue to the small valley.

(6) Turn right, follow the sunken path and cross the woods. Continue straight on until you rejoin the Chemin des Fauces you took earlier and follow it to the right, passing once more in front of the house at the hamlet known as Le Petit Fauces.

(2) Turn right after the wooden gate to take the Chemin des Pérelles, and follow it to the road (Rue Saint-Sébastien - D260). On reaching Saint-Sylvain, turn left towards the village centre, ignoring Rue du Maréchal Leclerc and Rue Saint-Clair on the right to reach the roundabout.

(7) Turn right towards Fierville-Bray, ignore Rue du Docteur Paul Enouf on your right and, after about 100 m, carefully cross Rue Saint-Martin des Bois to take Venelle Chambois on your left.

At the end of the alley, cross Rue Froide with care and enter the other car park at Saint-Sylvain Town Hall, opposite on the right. Walk along the right-hand side of the building, then go round it on the left to return to your vehicle (S/E).

Saint-Denis Church in Soignolles.

^12th,^13th,^15th and^18th centuries.

The ancient road known as the "Chemin Haussé" passes through Soignolles. It crossed the plain via Vieux and Jort and continued towards the Chartres region. It is said that William the Conqueror, travelling along this road, stopped at the church in Soignolles to go to confession and was given, as penance, the task of building a chapel. The church, which has been altered over the centuries, has retained elements from^{the 12th} century. The fortified tower could be used by the inhabitants to take refuge in the event of danger, a common practice during the Hundred Years’ War.

The tower and the chancel: the rib-vaulted ceilings of the tower are Gothic. The chancel dates from the^13th century.

The nave portal: this door was originally the main entrance to the nave. Topped with zigzag arches, it is characteristic of Norman Romanesque art. The carved decoration symbolises the transition from the secular world to the sacred precinct. The central stone, the eleventh, is the keystone, the pivot between the end and the beginning. It is symbolised by the beast of the Apocalypse marked on the forehead by the triangle and the rose window.

The modillions, between symbol and reality: dating from^{the 13th} century, they are a symbolic representation of reality, of sins or damnation. The peaceful human heads are often a portrait of the stonemason. Those grimacing express terror in the face of a nearby diabolical being.

"The church at Soignolles was Romanesque, but alterations were made at various times that are easily recognisable; the north wall of the nave, for example, was rebuilt in the last century, whilst the choir vaults appear to date from^{the 13th} century. The tower must have been altered in^{the 15th century}; it has a hipped roof. To the north of the tower there was a chapel which has been removed. One entered the nave through a side door whose archivolts are decorated with zigzags. The choir has retained its modillions, but the windows have been rebuilt."
(A. de Caumont)