La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois - Saint-Etienne du Gravier

The church got erected end of the 11th century and got consecrated during the reign of Louis VI (aka "Louis le Gros" - "Louis the Fat").

For a long time, the church and the cemetery around belonged to a priory of canons regular of Saint Augustin.

Severely damaged and looted during the Hundred Years War, the church got repaired and rebuilt around 1460. It was burnt down a century later when the Huguenots ravaged the region.

During the bloodcurdling "Reign of Terror" (1793/94) a certain Louis Pajot, self-proclaimed "Roi de La Guerche" publicly burnt all archives of the commune and melted down three of the church´s five bells. The two bells that survived were brought back by angry peasants.

During the Industrial Revolution La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois developed into a centre of metallurgic, the population grew and the centre of the community moved to the canal. So a new, larger church got erected and St. Etienne lost the status of a parish church.