The carillon in the church of Saint Jacques in Châtellerault has been the pride of the town since 1867. The brainchild of its priest, it was then financed by inhabitants and created by the Bollée workshops. It has been out of order since the end of the 1980s and is awaiting restoration!
Façade ouest de l'église Saint-Jacques de ChâtelleraultFondation du patrimoine
The church of Saint Jacques was restored in the 19th century. The church's priest, Auguste Boislabeille, supervised the work with help from his nephew, Jean-Baptiste. Wanting to give the sanctuary unique character, Jean-Baptiste decided to install a carillon in its towers.
Façade ouest de l'église Saint-Jacques de ChâtelleraultFondation du patrimoine
He described the moment that inspired him.
One day, having been invited into a parishioner's living room, he encountered a painting of a village and its church. When the time came for the Angelus prayer, a religious tune resounded from a music box hidden behind the canvas.
Jean-Baptiste immediately thought it would be wonderful to do the same thing, on a larger scale and with real bells, in his church's towers.
He didn't know anything about huge carillons—the glory of northern French belfries.
A carillon for Saint Jacques
Luck brought together the two priests and members of the Bollée family, who had come to the town to offer their work. Ernest-Sylvain Bollée had just completed a large carillon for a church in Châlons-sur-Marne, along with his son, Amédée. He urged Jean-Baptiste to come visit him. Convinced, Jean-Baptiste dreamed of seeing such an instrument resounding through his church.
Les cloches du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
Unfortunately, the parish's financial supporters refused to pay for such an extensive project.
Far from being discouraged, the priests appealed to their parishioners.
Their generosity and that of many from Châtelleraut was enough to finally complete the project!
Détail des cloches du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The carillon's bells still bear the names of the generous donors.
Mécanisme du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
At that time, the Bollées were presenting an automatic carillon with about forty bells matching the order of Châtelleraut's carillon at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
Some impatient, curious people bought railroad tickets to go there and admire the marvel that would soon be the pride of the church of Saint Jacques.
There was great disappointment when the instrument was ultimately sold to the cathedral in Buffalo, Ohio.
Mécanisme du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The Bollée family mobilized to provide Châtellerault's inhabitants with their long-awaited carillon.
The bells were consecrated in November 1867 and installed throughout the following months.
The carillon's automatic player officially sounded for the first time on September 6, 1868.
Mécanisme du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
They then had to wait until August 1869 for the carillon machine, invented by Amédée Bollée, to be installed and inaugurated.
Les cloches du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The instrument has 50 bells distributed between the two north towers—44 permanent bells and 6 pealing bells to the south—to ring bells for the parish.
The need to repeat notes fairly quickly requires it to have more hammers than bells. Each bell has one, two or three hammers, based on the probable frequency of their use in music.
Mécanisme du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The automatic mode is controlled by a huge cylinder with pins, which can act on 102 hammers that are able to ring the 50 bells. The instrument was never intended to be played manually.
Détail du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The activation of the automatic mechanism is controlled by the church's clock. It was specially designed at Bollée's request by their clockmaker friend in Sarthe, Julien Gourdin de Mayet.
Cécile Poyant jouant du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
Amédée Bollée also created a manual mode in 1869, which can be played like a piano, but using the fists.
The energy needed to operate the bell clappers was provided by an assistant who had to crank the mechanism. The difficulty of finding an experienced assistant led to the abandonment of the manual playing mechanism.
Les cloches du Carillon de l'église Saint-JacquesFondation du patrimoine
The carillon's automatic player worked without issues until 1928.
The automatic mechanism was completely overhauled and put back into operation for the town's one-thousandth anniversary celebration in 1952.
The manual keyboard was softened using mechanical means, but the overly powerful motor has broken several strings over the years.
A carillon worth saving
The carillon was listed as a historic monument in 1980. It is the most important of the great French carillons given its exceptional character and also because its bells and most of its original mechanism have been conserved so well. However, eight years later, a mechanism broke and the automatic carillon fell silent.
Rencontre avec Cécile Poyant : carillonneuse à l'église Saint-Jacques de ChâtelleraultFondation du patrimoine
The carillon works now, thanks to several restorations, as Cécile Poyant demonstrates in this video.
However, the whole South Tower needed to be restored to get the automated carillon back in working order.
This major project is supported by the Fondation du Patrimoine (French Heritage Foundation).
Our thanks to the town of Châtellerault and Cécile Poyant for their invaluable help in producing this content.
To support this project along with the Fondation du Patrimoine: click this link https://www.fondation-patrimoine.org/les-projets/eglise-saint-jacques-chatellerault
