Noirlac and Royaumont, venerable Cistercian abbeys with remarkable contemporary gardens

PGood for meditation in the time of the monks, symbolic for the mind or nurturing for the body, the abbey gardens have many other qualities for their current visitors. There is harmony with sublime buildings preserved or restored beyond the vagaries of history, the serenity of their cloisters or the plant diversity of more contemporary creations. Thus the new gardens of the Noirlac abbey, in the Cher, or the new exhibition of the Garden of the nine squares of the abbey of Royaumont, in the Val-d’Oise.

The new gardens of Noirlac Abbey

Noirlac Abbey was established in the 12th^e century in southern Berry by Cistercian monks. Currently owned by the Cher department, it called on the landscaper and “gardener” Gilles Clément to create new gardens. The project took shape a few years ago, on the initiative of its director, Paul Fournier, and its partial completion – but is a garden ever really finished? – accompanies the retirement of the latter. The restoration of the buildings at the end of the 1970s, which had given them back all the purity of their lines, culminated in the creation of contemporary stained glass windows in the abbey church and the old refectory. It was the visual artist Jean-Pierre Raynaud, himself… a former gardener, who was the designer, for a breathtaking result due to a great mastery of forms, associated with the equally controlled presence of natural light.

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Gilles Clément’s work consisted in reintegrating, to begin with, the abbey complex, enclosed by walls and largely preserved, in its environment of hillsides and bocage. The surroundings have been redesigned and planted, creating new circulations and new viewpoints. The gardens themselves, recreated from the historic garden and its emblematic alley of lime trees with asymmetrical branches, today dialogue subtly with the buildings. Evocation of the medieval garden, the “square of changing roses”, a basin of Corten steel water lilies and squares of elegant grasses (miscanthus) framing the perspective towards the hillside welcome the visitor. The cloister garden, for its part, breaks with symmetry and order, and presents a set of colorful beds of plants and flowers in the shape of “clouds”, elegant reflections of those who are in the sky.

Abbey of Noirlac, Bruère-Allichamps (Cher). In August and September: themed tours, particularly in the bocage, workshops and a photographic exhibition, “At the crossroads of heritage” (until September 18). Practical information on abbeydenoirlac.fr

“Of trees and men” at Royaumont Abbey

After “Between East and West, the journey of plants in the Middle Ages” (2016-2021), Royaumont Abbey – whose foundation also dates back to the 12th^e century – presents until 2025, in its Garden of nine squares, its new botanical exhibition: “Trees and men”. The theme of the tree in medieval everyday life is thus broken down into six “landscapes”: the isolated, solitary tree, a landmark, like the lime tree or the oak tree; the orchard, with its fruit trees, apple or pear trees; hedges and borders; the undergrowth, which provided firewood and that needed to make tools; the useful forest, which provided timber; and the forest: the deep forest, which fed the imagination, between myths and tales.

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The collection is discovered around the majestic fig tree planted in the middle of the medieval-inspired garden created in 2004 by the landscape architects Olivier Damée and Edith Vallet. The choice of plants was made by a team from their agency, and the landscaping was carried out by gardeners from Royaumont. Romain van de Walle, the young and experienced head gardener, works to maintain it. Evoking the nourishing gardens of an abbey, the garden with its symbolic geometry is inspired by the rich medieval iconography – starting with its raised squares surrounded by plessis of chestnut branches and its elegant fence of braided living willow. A “knowledge table” – a spectacular amaranth wood tray 17 meters long – presents the plants of the garden in pots and labeled, and a small orchard evokes controlled nature.

Another plant gem of the Cistercian abbey: the cloister garden, recreated in the 20th^e century by the famous landscaper Achille Duchêne for the then owners, the Goüin family, restored in 2010, with its classic boxwood borders, its trimmed yews and its cypresses pointing… to the sky. Finally, a vegetable garden presents traditional beds and plant and vegetable compositions that are spontaneous and… skilfully maintained. Two old greenhouses leaning against the surrounding wall allow the conservation of plants and the educational presentation of vegetables in the aptly named… vegetable library.

Royaumont Abbey, Asnières-sur-Oise (Val-d’Oise). Exhibition “Of trees and men” (2022-2025). the Royaumont Festival, which offers concerts, shows and meetings in the abbey and its gardens, will take place from September 2 to October 3. Practical information on royaumont.com

Lucien Jedwab