The "Saint Martin's wheel": according to a local tradition, young unmarried girls would spin the wheel. If the biggest bell stopped at the top, they would find a husband within the year!
This well-preserved wheel is known as the "Saint Martin" wheel. It was used for weddings and christenings, as well as for the patron saint's day. The bell wheel in the Trémouille church.
Let's take a trip to the northern Cantal region, where the church of Trémouille conceals a curiosity known locally as "Saint Martin's Wheel".
This bell wheel, listed on the Inventaire Supplémentaire des Monuments Historiques in 1975, hangs 3.50 m high in the choir of the church.
Resting on a stone support, it comprises an ironwork base in the shape of an inverted heart, ending in a fleur-de-lys at the top. The base supports a metal wheel, approximately 50 cm in diameter, placed vertically and with its axis fixed to the wall for greater stability. The wheel is surrounded by bells of different sizes. A rope-operated lever turns the wheel and rings the bells.
Originally there were probably 16 bells, but today only 15 remain. One of the bells - perhaps the oldest - bears inscriptions in Gothic letters, while others bear the names of the founders: "Louis Dubois" (practicing in the 18th century), "Dubois Robert" (practicing in the late 18th and early 19th centuries) and "Jan Driac", all of whom made clarines in Le Puy en Velay.
The Cantal Department of Antiquities and Works of Art dates this work to the late 16th or early 17th century. It is highly probable that some of the bells were replaced in later periods. The Gothic lettering on one of the bells suggests the existence of a previous wheel whose bells were reused.
It was a local tradition for unmarried girls to turn the wheel. If the biggest bell stopped at the top, they would find a husband within the year!
This well-preserved wheel is known as the "Saint Martin wheel". It was used for weddings and christenings, as well as for the patron saint's day.
What's more original is a local tradition whereby unmarried girls would spin the wheel and wait for the largest bell to come to rest in the upper position. If it did, they were supposed to find a husband within the year!
In the national inventory of bell wheels
The inventory by Messrs Fabre and Sutter has identified and studied four Saint Martin's wheels in Auvergne, all of which are in Cantal (at Trémouille, Coltines, Villedieu and Virargues). Two others in the department have since disappeared.
This inventory tells us a great deal about the existence of bellwheels, attested in archives as far back as the 9th century. Placed in the choir for greater sound range, the wheels were used as a musical instrument during liturgical times. However, we don't know if they existed in all churches. They may have been replaced by the altar bell, which is smaller and easier to move around the building.
Bell wheel, Musée dOrosi Costa Rica. Photo credit Pascale ChappotBellwheels were found all over Europe; they still exist in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal, as well as in the New Orleans church, and in South and Central America (we "discovered" one in a small museum in Costa Rica).
In France, many are to be found in Brittany, Savoie and the Pyrénées Orientales. The wheels we found are made of iron or wood (some are solid), or a combination of the two. They measure between 30 cm and 1.70 m in diameter, and bear different names depending on the region: "rodella" in Roussillon, "roue de guérison" in Brittany, "rouelle" in Savoie, "roue de prière et de vœux" in Burgundy, "roue de saint Martin" in Auvergne. The number of bells varies according to instrument and region, ranging from 6 to 24 for the wheels inventoried.
The wheel's circular shape is symbolic, recalling the solar or lunar disk, the cult of Isis or the Gallic sun god. It represents perfection and universal harmony. The wheel's rotation generates cycles and eternal recommencement.
Pascale Chappot, tour guide
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