Église Saint-Ouen au clocher tors

Dedicated to Saint-Ouen and Saint-Barthélémy, the current church replaces a building dating back to the 10th century Romanesque period. Made of sandstone, Caen and Vernon stone, the observable monument was built in Gothic style from 1484 onwards, and completed in the early 17th century. The main reason for this slowness was the Wars of Religion, which were particularly devastating in the Pays de Caux. The church has a Latin cross floor plan, measures 40m x 18m and comprises a nave with aisles.

A detailed guide to the architecture, furnishings and stained glass windows is available inside the building.

The special feature of the bell tower at Saint-Ouen d'Offranville is its twisted design. It is one of only a hundred or so twisted bell towers in Europe. Built around 1570, it reaches a height of 45 metres. The spire has 8 ridges, twisted from left to right. That is, without a right-hand thread. The twist is about 1/8 of a turn. Of the listed spires, 35 "turn" to the right, while only 6 "turn" to the left.
Accidental phenomenon? Many hypotheses have been put forward: sunlight predominating on one side? A random construction flaw? But why the strong anti-clockwise bias? Should we look for a carpentry treatise from 1793, which states that "wood has a propensity to turn to the right when drying"? It would be to counteract this woodworking that we once advocated "when trees are taken from the kingdom of France for the construction of the King's ships, for their masts, we observe to have the oaks cut in the old moon and to have them travel by stagecoach (quickly) so that they are exposed for little time in the forests and in fresh water".