Board 9
46°39'52.581"N 6°19'53.218"E - 1'022.7 m
The new church
For a long time, it was quite difficult to choose an appropriate place for the new church at the town of Le Pont. There simply wasn’t enough room at the church’s former location. The initial idea
was to level off a new construction site next to the lake. In the end, it was decided that up on the hill at the foot of the Aouille cliff, a place called the Sablon Crest, would be the ideal
place, despite the inconvenience that would be during the winter months. A church on a hill overlooking the town would be especially attractive for a place that was quickly becoming a tourist
location.
Geologists at that time declared the proposed construction site unstable. Ignoring their report, the town collaborated with the architect Francis Isoz to go ahead and proceed with the project. The plan was for a more elegant church than the former chapel. To celebrate the completion of the edifice, a banquet was held on October 14th 1899 at the Truite Hotel (for a price of 2 francs 50 per person, which included a half liter of wine) in favor of all who’d worked on the construction. One franc was also given to each of the young ladies who prepared flowers and the traditional pine tree placed at the top of the belfry, draped with flags. There are no known photos of what certainly was a beautiful and moving event.
The L.D. Odobey Cadet company at Morez cast and tuned the two church bells and furnished the four-faced clock for the bell tower for a total of 3899 francs. The bells arrived at the Pont train station on May 19th 1900, followed by the clock on September 8th. The bells were installed by Gustave Clot and Gustave Rochat of Mouquin Bros carpentry. They were assisted by the woodworker Féréol Rochat. Charles Kunz of Lausanne created and installed the stained glass for a cost of 880 francs.
They decided there would be 3 bell tolls per day: the small one to start the day, followed by the large one for noon as well as to end the day.
They called the large bell “Hope” and the small one “Charity”. Some time after 1900, they engraved the town’s coat of arms on one of the bells.
This coat of arms is described in the official register of coats of arms of the Canton of Vaud (SPES, 1972) as follows: “a natural rendering of a trout above a pike in a sea of azure above a sand-stone masonry bridge under which flows a river of silver.”
This new church would also serve as the place of worship for the hosts and hostesses of the nearby Grand Hotel, inaugurated in 1901. The church services were held in English. The church was entirely renovated between 1960 and 1961. New stained-glass windows were created by the artist known as “Bodjol” (Walter Grandjean, Nyon, 1919-2006).
The restoration committee decided not to modify the exterior of the church since it had become an integral part of the town’s landscape. As for the church’s interior, it would be focused on the choir which would have a full-sized cross, detached from the wall. Bodjol’s stained-glass windows, five on either side of the cross, would depict the people who surrounded Christ’s cross at the crucifixion. All the other elements, the ceiling as well as the furniture, would be renovated from that perspective. In this sense, the committee hoped to create a religiously and artistically effective design.
It was during the renovation at that time that the third church bell was installed. In fact, it was none other than the original 1733 bell from the former chapel. It had, however, suffered from not being used as well as being stored in a humid location for more than 50 years.
There’s an interesting story behind this old bell. Some authorities at the time, probably the governors in place when the bell was cast, decided to have their names inscribed on it. How could they?! What a scandal. A complaint was filed against them. Accepting their grievances, the authorities decided to have their names chiseled out of the bell and then have the metal filed over. Way up there in it’s belfry, the bell still shows traces of this “correction”. And what a belfry it is: old, rickety stairs fit for a cat but hardly for a janitor! The building isn’t used much nowadays. Ever since the Reformed Church of the Vallée de Joux unified the community parishes of the Sentier, the Brassus, the Lieu and the Abbaye (of which the Pont is part of), the church service changes place every Sunday.
The Catholic chapel is on the other side of the town. Constructed in 1959 according to architectural principles belonging to “the new school”, the building blends admirably with the landscape even today.
