🇬🇧 22030 — The Green Setting: The Sanctuary Garden - Votre Encyclopédie pour préserver la mémoire de notre village!

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Study of the Green Setting and the ancient cemetery (ID 22030).

What we call today the « Public Garden » is a land steeped in memory. Before becoming a place for walks in the shadow of the bell tower, it was the resting place of our ancestors—a space where the mineral once dominated the floral.

Classified as a Historic Monument on September 2, 1937, this green setting has undergone a radical metamorphosis. It has not always been the peaceful park where families stroll on Sundays. Its history is intimately linked to that of Saint-Nicolas Church, as it served as the parish cemetery for several centuries.

The Green Setting of Saint-Nicolas: a garden born from stone (ID 22030).

1901: From Cemetery to Pleasure Garden

It was in November 1901 that history shifted. The local council, noting that the old cemetery had become too cramped, decided to transform it into a public garden. It was during this period that the living emblem of the park was planted: a magnificent weeping beech. It was rooted precisely where the former mortuary depot once stood.

The Cycle of Life:
The historic beech watched over Avesnes for more than a century. In 2009, a young tree of the same species was planted in the same spot, thus ensuring the continuity of this landscaping and memorial tradition.

Traces of a Monumental Enclosure

In the early 20th century, the garden looked quite different. The main entrance was intended to be monumental, marked by a low wall topped with two stone pillars. These « traveling stones » actually came from Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise, reused here to ennoble the access to this sacred ground.