1st March to 6 September 2025 - Replacement of the statue of the Virgin and Child above the porch of the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Help in Gatteville
A statue of the Virgin Mary with Child has adorned the top of the porch of the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours chapel, in Gatteville’s central square, for several centuries.
This statue therefore has a long history. It is also an eventful history: in his book Les pierres qui parlent (The Talking Stones), Father Bernard Leblond recounts that during the most iconoclastic hours of the Revolution, when the rule was to destroy everything that represented religion, sailors from Gatteville hid it in a well not far from the chapel to save it from destruction.
It was put back in place shortly afterwards and has survived to this day, exposed to the elements and only slightly protected by the niche that shelters it.
But time has taken its toll…!!!… Nowadays, it is more the location than the statue itself that draws the observer’s attention to the sculptor’s work, as it has been so badly eroded by rain and wind. The difference between the photograph taken by Abbé Leblond in the 1960s and the statue’s current appearance is striking.
The statue was removed on 14 February 2025. The damage was too extensive to allow for restoration. This led our association, Gatteville Héritages, which aims to promote awareness and respect for Gatteville’s past and present heritage and to contribute to its preservation for future generations, to plan for its replacement.
The project, which received the support of the municipality of Gatteville, consisted of commissioning a new statue of the same size (1 m high) from the sculptor Dimitri Charrault (Atelier Charrault), a Cherbourg-based sculptor specialising in religious art, to replace the old statue.
As this statue of the Virgin and Child is part of the heritage of Gatteville and, more broadly, of the Val de Saire, such a project would not have made sense if it had been carried out by a closed group of people, however motivated they might be.
That is why it was opened up in three ways:
- A public consultation was held on 1 March 2025, both in person at Gatteville Town Hall and online via the association’s website.
It offered the two colleges (residents of Gatteville and other municipalities) a choice of three sketches of the statue, each corresponding to a different style. It also offered a choice of three possible materials for the statue: Caen stone, Tervoux stone and Richemont stone.
Following this vote, the specifications for the commission will be drawn up by the association in conjunction with the local council and submitted to the religious and administrative authorities for their opinion before the final commission is confirmed.
- An exhibition by sculptor Dimitri Charrault (Atelier Charrault), from 30 April to 6 May 2025
This exhibition, housed in the former town hall on the central square of Gatteville, allowed anyone who wished to do so to admire some of the sculptor’s works and see the work in progress on the new statue of the Virgin and Child.
- A call for donations, open between 15 March and 6 May 2025
This appeal for donations to our association, open to all, was intended to cover all the expenses necessary to implement the project to replace the statue. It was open from the time the final order was sent to the sculptor until the end of his exhibition.
Contributions were received through various channels (direct delivery during the association’s events, postal mail, the HelloAsso website, etc.).
The target amount for the collection was €4,000. This was greatly exceeded, as we raised a total of €5,112. The surplus of €1,112 remains in the association’s accounts, in a fund dedicated to financing the restoration or replacement of other sculptures belonging to Gatteville’s heritage.
The new statue, blessed on 15 August 2025 by religious authorities, was installed on 6 September 2025 in the niche previously restored by the municipality.