Deyrançon or the War of the Buttons
In 1402,, Dey-Ransom was then the largest commune in the department. Coming under the jurisdiction of Saint-Jean-d'Angély and the generality of La Rochelle, it is made up of numerous hamlets (Prin, Petit-Breuil, la Grange, etc.) and farms. After the Revolution, the two main villages are united to form Deyrançon with more than 1.000 souls. But, throughout the 19th century, a strong rivalry settles down between the inhabitants of the peat marsh and the wine-growing plain. The town hall was ungovernable, so much so that Petit-Breuil became the capital of the commune in 1856. To put an end to the quarrels, the following year the Prinois demanded the construction of a town hall and a school in Dey. In 1903,, by decree of the Council of State, Deyrançon is divided into Prin-Deyrancon et Le Petit Breuil-Deyrançon with common use of the church and the cemetery of Notre-Dame de Dey which also materialize the territorial border between the two new municipalities. In 1971, the project of attachment of Petit-Breuil to Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon. Until the Great War, quarantine, famous wild strawberry grown around the Prin peat bogs, was picked up by the women, then shipped at 10 centimes per basket by rail to Parisian restaurants. This peaceful village, located between Niort and La Rochelle and watered by 12 km of waterways, smells of the countryside and invites you to take long walks in its nearby plain and to visit the Romanesque church of Notre-Dame de Dey recalling the religious fervor of those who cultivated these rich and fertile lands.
What to see in Prin-Deyrançon?
01. Notre-Dame de Dey church
The toponym Deyrançon, from the Latin Dei (God) and the pre-Latin Ransom (rock), means rock of God. Connected to the south of the village by a bridge, Notre-Dame de Dey, isolated in the plain at the bottom of a slight depression, is surrounded by its cemetery and a fortified enclosure with thick walls and archery towers certainly because of its ancient vocation as jacquaire stage located between Poitou and Aunis. The latter was renovated by a team of young Europeans according to the plans of the imperial matrix of 1811. Burned several times, the roman church is reconstructed piecemeal. A line broken three times is visible on the apse of the choir. Her western facade from the 17th century is pierced by a door with a broken arch, flanked by two pilasters, surmounted by a polylobed oculus and framed by a modest buttress on the left and a higher buttress on the right supporting a small square bell tower topped with a slate roof on the pavilion.
Against the West winds and the North kisses; Its bedside curving under the heavy buttresses; Massive, it crouches and clings to the plain; And if you want, Passerby, to feel your heart guarded; If you lack strength, in the human storm; In the shadows come and pray to Our Lady of Dey.
See inside
Three historic capitals (Daniel seated with two lions licking his feet, lion paws placed on the bearded head of the prophet and woman bitten on the breasts by snakes and on the hands by devils), baptismal font (large oval tank completed by a small font), tombstones from the family of the lords of the place, big cross in wood, plaque of the dead 14-18 from Prin-Deyrançon and Petit-Breuil.
What to see in the park
The remains of a disappeared hamlet (town hall, school and farmhouse).
Other curiosities to see:
- The washhouses
- Alkaline bogs du Prin
- The five trees classified as remarkable trees of Deux-Sèvres (thornless honeylocust, common yew, Provence hackberry tree at Notre-Dame de Dey and two plane trees at the Grange house – private).
