The Vaulerent or Vaulerand barn is a former monastic barn in Villeron, on the French plain in eastern Val-d'Oise. From the 11th century onwards, it was a farm belonging to the Chaalis Abbey. Almost 800 years later, the barn still serves this agricultural function. Operated directly by the Royal Cistercian Abbey and its lay monks until 1315, it was then leased out. It remained the property of the royal abbey until 1791 when it was sold as biens nationaux. The current complex includes a storage building, the barn, which dates back to the 13th century. Measuring 72 meters in length, it is one of the most imposing Cistercian farm buildings in France. The barn was listed as a historic monument in 1889; the dovecote, the well and the cellars were listed as historic monuments on February 20, 1990.
Location and topography The Domaine de Vaulerent is situated on a broad plateau in the northeastern part of the Pays de France, rising to a height of around one hundred meters. It is bordered to the northeast by the Butte de Montmélian in the commune of Saint-Witz, which marks the beginning of the Valois region, and to the south by the upper Croult valley in the communes of Louvres and Chennevières-lès-Louvres, which forms only a small, shallow valley in which the stream flows only intermittently. The subsoil of the plateau is composed of Saint-Ouen limestone (Bartonian), covered by a thick layer of plateau silts. This is the source of the land's remarkable agricultural qualities. On average, it reaches a thickness of 3 meters but can reach up to 6 meters, as shown by test pits carried out at Roissy-en-France, a little further south. Like all the cereal barns in the Chaalis area, Vaulerent is isolated from any built-up area, in the middle of an open-field system. The center of the village of Villeron is 800 meters away. Around 1 kilometer to the west runs the ancient Roman road, then the royal road between Paris and Senlis, which later became Route nationale 17. The Chaalis Abbey is 15 kilometers to the northeast of the barn, a distance of around 20 kilometers by road in the Middle Ages. Today, urbanization is progressing all around the estate, with the presence of Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle airport 3 kilometers to the south, the development of housing estates around the village of Villeron, and a business park close to the old Route Nationale.
Toponymy
The name Vaulerent comes from the Latin Vallis Laurentii, meaning "Laurent's valley". The spelling of the name has constantly evolved: Vallorens, Vaulaurent, Volleron. Today, the spelling varies between Vaulerand, Vollerand, Vaulerant, and Vaulerent. Researchers prefer this last spelling, as it is the closest to the etymology and phonetic evolution.
History At the beginning of the 13th century, the Chaalis Abbey owned eleven barns, three of which were located on the French plain: the Stains barn in the present-day commune of Villeneuve-sous-Dammartin (Seine-et-Marne), the Choisy-aux-Bœufs barn in Vémars (Val-d'Oise), and the largest of all, the Vaulerent barn.
The creation of the estate The estate's history is well documented in the original abbey documents held at the Archives Départementales de l'Oise in Beauvais and the abbey's cartulary kept at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The land of Vaulerent has belonged to the Chaalis abbey since it was founded in 1136. A charter dated 1138 specifies that it was bought half by King Louis VI and half by the monks. These lands had previously belonged to the lords of Villeron and the Suger de Chennevières family. At the time, these territories were largely occupied by woods and uncultivated land. After the first royal donation, other gifts came from local lords: Barthélemy de Montgé gave 37 arpents in 1139, Guillaume de Goussainville gave 20 arpents in 1140, Gautier d'Aulnay gave a nearby wood around 1143, which the Cistercian monks obtained the right to clear and cultivate. Between 1140 and 1145, small buildings were erected on the site, and new donations were made. These lands were located in the parishes of Villeron, Saint-Witz, and Épiais. An isolated piece of land was also donated in Goussainville. The donations were made at a time when Bernard of Clairvaux was extending the influence of the Cistercians, thanks in particular to his preaching on the Second Crusade. In 1160, 140 arpents (61 hectares) were donated by Gui de Senlis, a butler of the King. From 1163 onwards, the monks began to purchase new land around their estate, often disguised as donations. These purchases, made from local lords or other ecclesiastical establishments, enabled the estate to expand, but also to reduce the number of landlocked plots. This expansion came to a halt in 1173. It resumed only sporadically until around 1212, with purchases from small lords in economic difficulty. Around 87 plots were bought up until 1248. The surface area of only 52 of these is known: they cover 631 arpents or 275 hectares. The total surface area in 1248 is estimated, using a document called État général des terres de Vaulerent, at between 320 and 380 hectares. It covers a single block of land 4.5 kilometers long from north to south and no more than 1.5 kilometers wide, located between the parishes of Survilliers, Louvres, Roissy, and Épiais.
Barn farming in the Middle Ages
Direct use by monks (11th and 13th centuries)
When the monks acquired this land, none of it was under the tenancy. Instead, they were farmed directly by the abbey's lay monks. As required by the order's statutes in 1134, these lands were less than a day's walk from the mother abbey. All the modern agricultural methods of the time were employed. Horses were used as draft animals, rather than oxen, and land was cleared and improved. The monks developed a strict three-field system for all their plots, resulting in very high yields per hectare for the time. The first soles were devoted to wheat, the second to fallow land and the third to spring cereals, mainly barley. Archival documents from the 13th century are sufficiently precise to determine which plots were in which soles and in which year. This system lasted until the 18th century. In addition, the monks carried out extensive land consolidation. Of the 87 parcels listed in the acquisitions, the 1248 État Général mentions only 31 in total, a reduction of almost two-thirds. Of these parcels, nine were between 50 and 100 arpents, or between 22 and 45 hectares each, occupying over 90% of the estate.
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