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La restauration des jardins de l’abbaye Saint-Georges de Boscherville by Yves LESCROART – Château de Bénouville
Restoration of the gardens of Saint Georges de Boscherville Abbey
Located just a few miles downstream of Rouen, at the foot of the Roumare forest and overlooking the Seine loop, the Saint Georges de Boscherville Abbey is among the highlights of Normandy’s Romanesque architecture. The restoration of the monastic buildings is a long story that dates back over around two centuries – a story full of discoveries and the epilogue of which is the rebirth of the abbey gardens. It is not only the result of a painstaking scientific enterprise, but also of an exemplary human adventure via a social integration programme which played a major role in restoration work and, today, looks after welcoming visitors and maintaining the estate.
Yves Lescroart
Art historian and one of Louis Grodecki’s students at the Paris-Sorbonne Institute of Art and Archaeology. He worked as regional curator of historic monuments in Normandy – in Caen then in Rouen – from 1976 to 2001. In this capacity, he acted as contracting authority for the restoration of the majority of the region’s major monuments – in particular Rouen Cathedral and archbishop’s palace – coordinating work by the scientific committee implemented to monitor the campaign. As General Inspector for the Historic Monuments department, he was later in charge of the regions of Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté, then Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Centre, Lower Normandy and Champagne Ardenne.
Actively involved in the protection and the management of protected parks and gardens listed as Historic Monuments, Yves Lescroart contributed towards the restoration of both the abbey and its gardens.
Further reading :
Les jardins de Boscherville, Donna Canada-Smith, Editions du Palais, 2015