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Queen Blanche de Navarre, widow of Philippe VI in 1350, had been given Vernon as her apanage when she married the king two years earlier. Chroniclers of the time report that she enjoyed staying in Vernon so much that the town - and particularly the church - was to profit by her bounteous gifts.

The Lady chapel (apsidal chapel), part of queen Blanche's donation is a fine example of the Gothic style of the second half of the 14th century.

Built on a pentagonal plan, 5 metres long, the chapel is lighted by five Rayonnant windows, each having a single mullion.

The South-west aisle, looking West

The western part of the church, viz. the nave and the façade was pulled down and rebuilt from 1350 onward:

the arches at the entrance, the transept, the first bays, the lower part of the side-aisles and of the façade date back to this time..

During King Charles VI's reign (towards 1400- 1420) and later, the rest of the bays, the false triforium, the side chapels and the largest part of the facade were erected.

We can now have a closer look at the nave

It may seem somewhat narrow (8 m) compared to its its length (40 m), but the high vaults (rising up to 22 metres) are nevertheless a fine example of gracefully shaped consistent architecture.

The rhombus-shaped pillars are surrounded with sixteen smaller columns. Each one rests on a high plinth. As everywhere in the 15th century, capitals either disappear or are reduced to mere little bunches of leaves.

In spite of the nave having been built at a relatively late period, the vertical section shows the conventional three tiers: main arches, triforium and upper windows.

The triforium: it is a false one in front a a solid wall, not even a real gallery since it is interrupted by the pillars: each short section of the gallerycan be entered through a door from the outside flat roof.
In each bay, the false triforum shows six Flamboyant arches.

As usual at the time, the walls tend to have larger windows, which reduces the size of the triforium.

Finally, the upper windows are divided by five mullions and are representative of very Late Gothic. As a matter of fact, the vaults were completed only in 1617 and it may be surprising to notice that the architects of this time, instead of using Renaissance style, still resorted to older - and by then archaic- design. (See also next page - Renaissance period