Le Vauroux: Discover its architectural history, crafts and donkey breeding

Le Vauroux offers travellers several distinct points of interest: the Église du Vauroux, local craft traditions and the Asinerie du Vauroux. Its attractions range from a church building dating from the late 16th century to the village’s former activities and a guided tour of the donkey farm. If you choose a destination based on its cultural themes, you can decide in advance what to focus on: architectural history, local history, or a visit centred on donkeys and antique carriages.

Church and architectural history

The Église du Vauroux was built in the late 16th century and has been preserved as a unified whole. Its façade features geometric brick patterns. The building’s overall appearance and its façade ornamentation offer two distinct ways to appreciate it. The church also has an intricately carved wooden structure depicting the four Evangelists and their traditional attributes. These attributes identify the Evangelists; the woodwork adds a religious theme to the geometric design of the façade.

Crafts and local history

Le Vauroux was a village of bâtonniers, or stick makers. In 1850, cylindrical sticks were made there for umbrellas, walking sticks, broom handles and rulers. Their various uses ranged from personal items to household objects, illustrating the practical importance of this production. This gives the term bâtonniers a concrete local meaning: it refers to the making of these sticks. Another recorded activity involved women in Le Vauroux attaching buttons to cards. This adds a distinct form of local work to the history of the bâtonniers and broadens the picture beyond stick making.

Historically, Le Vauroux had equal areas of pasture and arable land, as well as 200 hectares of forest. Its religious history is also linked to a specific event: after an epidemic decimated the population in 1608, a pilgrimage to Notre Dame d’Auneuil was organised. Alongside accounts of craft work, this tells the story of religious practice during a crisis. The year 1608 marks this event, while 1850 dates the production of cylindrical sticks; the two dates therefore point to different questions about the village’s past.

Asinerie du Vauroux: donkey breeding and carriage museum

The Asinerie du Vauroux offers a guided tour of its donkey farm; a visit also includes a museum of antique horse-drawn carriages. It is home to more than 100 male and female donkeys; the herd size may change. This offers different interests to consider when choosing what to focus on during your stay: the church and its construction and design, craft history and its practical objects, or the Asinerie, with its guided tour and carriage museum. Depending on your interest in architecture, everyday history or donkey breeding, you can discover a different side of Le Vauroux.

Discover more destinations: Fontaine-Lavaganne, Villers-Vermont, Jonquières, Monchy-Humières, Saint-Étienne-Roilaye, Bornel, Estrées-Saint-Denis, Vauciennes

For the regional travel overview: Oise.