Le calvaire de la Cossonnerie

The clavarium symbol

Calvaries, mission crosses and other monuments bear witness to the faith of parishioners. Erected at the various entrances and exits to the village and at village crossroads, they have suffered the ravages of time.
Some of them have been partially restored, mainly by replacing crosses, but some of them looked quite splendid at the time of their sumptuousness. Such was the case with the calvary at La Cossonnerie.

The parish archives state that this calvary was erected in 1875, the year of a jubilee mission, on the initiative of Anne Loquais.
The cross was blessed on 10 August 1875, at the same time as the cross at Grand Cormier and La Sostière. On that day, a solemn procession came to La Cossonnerie from the church and left via La Foucherie and the route to Machecoul.


Composition of the Calvary

The Calvary at La Cossonnerie comprised :


a very high cross covered with a pattern of golden hearts.
small silver crosses on the façade and at the four corners of the monument.
On either side of the entrance door, elegant flowerpots were regularly decorated with flowers.
The main emblems of the Passion were arranged around Christ.


Children came here to pray. Every year, the church celebrated the "Month of Mary", and people even came in procession from Fresnay.

Most of the calvaries in the parish are over a hundred years old, but they have suffered the inexorable ravages of time... and faith. As was the case for the calvary at La Cossonnerie, which was much less maintained after the death of Anne Loquais.

In 1923, with the cross threatening to fall into disrepair, Father Chesneau had it replaced by another wooden cross from the workshops of Théodore Bertreux. It was blessed on 7 October that year.

Sadly, not much remains of the beautiful Calvary of yesteryear. The cross has disappeared and Christ has a broken arm.

The monument's masonry base became the property of the local council in 2008, and has been restored by an integration project.

The historical society has plans to renovate the calvary.

Sources: The Historical Society