Jumièges, Abbey Ruin

(2 photos)
Starting in 1852, the new owner of the Jumièges Abbey, the Lepel-Cointel family, preserved the ruins until 1947 when it was purchased by the French Government. The ruin of the abbey church includes two 150-foot-high towers (square at the bottom, octagon at the top) and a massive porch at the west front. The wooden belfries that had once surmounted each tower have collapsed — one in 1830, and the other in 1856. The nave, at eighty-two feet, is the highest Romanesque nave in Normandy, but it no longer has a roof. Enough of the abbey church remains so we can explore at length and see details of the original construction.
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Well, not everything at Jumièges is old. Here is a buildiing permit, dated September 1984, that says a house of 955 square feet, can be built on a lot with 10,763 square feet.