For 40 years, Philippe Doom has marvelled at Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon’s church. He was particularly drawn to its bell tower, a prime example of a clocher tors (twisted spire).
In recent years, it had deteriorated; tiles often fell to the ground. It needed restoration. That was the first of his endeavours when he was elected mayor in 2020. He launched a fundraising campaign, opened a public tender, secured support from the Fondation du Patrimoine, and coordinated the renovation effort, which began in late 2022.
On June 10, 2023, the mairie inaugurated the newly restored church of Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon. By then, Mr Doom had joined Les Clochers Tors d’Europe, an association bringing together enthusiasts who catalogue twisted spires across the continent. The group was called in during the restoration period, after which he was invited to join.
Six months later, he became its president, with the intention of identifying as many as possible.
France is full of twisted spires yet their number and history have still to be fully uncovered.
How many are there? Sixty-plus is a commonly accepted estimate.
Les Clochers Tors d’Europe currently lists 63, with new entries regularly added to its website.
The process of recording them began in 1988, when the Société Archéologique organised an exhibition in Puiseaux (Loiret), presenting an initial batch of twisted spires it had identified.
The association itself was founded in 1994, as more examples were reported across France, Germany, Great Britain, Austria and Belgium.
Les clocher tors de Saint-Aubin-sur-GaillonLes Clochers Tors d’Europe
“I was contacted by the mayor of Hectomare, a town 30 kilometres away, who told me they had a twisted spire. I had always thought Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon was the only one in the whole of the Eure department,” said Mr Doom.
Wikipedia lists even more. The French page counts 74, while the English version stops at 69. The French list includes three additional churches in Écury-sur-Coole, Mareuil-le-Port and Songy (Marne), one in Crécy-Couvé (Eure-et-Loir), and mistakenly references another twice.
However, officials at Écury-sur-Coole told The Connexion that their church is not a clocher tors, highlighting the ambiguity over what qualifies as one. Many listed examples are defined using mathematical criteria: a twist of one eighth is typically required, although some are reported at as little as one sixteenth. Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon twists one eighth to the right. Écury-sur-Coole was reported as having a one-sixteenth twist.
There is also confusion between clocher tors and flèche torse, as the terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Mareuil-le-Port and Songy confirmed their churches are twisted, although photographs suggest only the very top of the spire is affected.
Les Clochers Tors d’Europe has yet to include them on its website and does not edit the French Wikipedia page; the association says it does not know who does.
To make matters more complex, another mystery fuels debate: how did these spires twist? Natural causes – time, weather and environmental conditions – provide the most widely accepted explanation. The more the wind blows, the more the oak frame gradually twists, a process that unfolds over centuries. At Saint-Aubin-sur-Gaillon, the one-eighth twist is thought to have developed over five to seven centuries.
Devil is in the detail
Wind may also explain why so many examples are found in northern France. The association reports only seven south of a line running through Limoges, Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon.
Human intervention offers a second explanation. Carpenters may have made errors during construction – a theory supported by Ille-et-Vilaine archaeologist Daniel Prigent.
Alternatively, highly skilled craftsmen may have deliberately reproduced the effect, turning the twist into a stylistic feature. This could explain why the Baugeois area of Maine-et-Loire has the highest concentration of twisted spires in France.
A third, more colourful explanation also exists: the Devil. At Saint-Maurice church in Mervans (Saône-et-Loire), Mr Doom’s favourite example, a tale attributed to Claude Perrault recounts how the Devil crept in at midnight, only to find the carpenter, Crétin, waiting for him. As the Devil began twisting the tower, Crétin threw holy water in his face, forcing him to flee. In Saint-Outrille (Cher), one of three local legends claims the spire was twisted by the Devil’s coiling tail as he fled a woman who climbed the tower to drive him out.
Church of St Mary and All Saints in ChesterfieldCopyright (c) 2025 Stephen Richard McAdam/Shutterstock. No use without permission.
Such devilish tales are also found across the Channel. According to local folklore, the spire of the Church of St Mary and All Saints in Chesterfield, between Sheffield and Nottingham, was twisted by the Devil. It is one of three examples in England listed by the association, alongside St Mary’s Church in Cleobury Mortimer and Christ Church in Barnstaple. The association estimates there are around 120 twisted spires across Europe, though the true number may be higher.
The English Wikipedia page lists eight in England, as well as one in the United States – the Caroline Church in Brookhaven, Setauket, New York – and one in Canada, Christ Church in Clarke’s Head, Newfoundland and Labrador.
To help the association identify more twisted spires in the UK, the US or elsewhere, contact Philippe Doom at doom27600@gmail.com or on 06 33 63 82 19.
