In the 1568 during the religious wars when churches were being ransacked  and burned,  a statue of the Virgin Mary was burried  in a field near our house to save it from being destroyed. The statue already had a miraculous reputation.

In 1691 the statue was discovered    when an ox made his querencia -his preferred grazing ground and a place where he felt secure - in a part of the pasture which appeared to be less appetising. The farm workers curious by this strange behaviour dug down and discovered the statue. It was taken to the village church, but twice returned to the same spot in the field by itself!

These amazing circumstances were the origin of the pilgrimage. There were many accounts of people being cured. Following these miracles pilgrims came from all over France on a pilgrimage to the statue.

Crosses signpost the route from the church to the shrine.

In 1789, saved from a shipwreck by his devotion  to the statue, the inheritor of the land had the  “niche"  that we can see today built to house the statue.

The shrine survived the revolution without damage  but a miscreant broke the arm of the mother of god in a gesture of rage.

Our “Grange” and garage which are the oldest parts of the property were probably used as lodgings for  these pilgrims.