Originally, there was a pagan temple on the site. Among the fifty odd coins discovered, when the floor of the church was remade about thirty years ago was one bronze coin from the Roman era. Apparently, another was found in a well near the church.

In 419, when the diocese of Uzès was founded, a Christian sanctuary replaced the original monument.

Nothing remains of that early mediaeval building except that certain cut stones were clearly reused in the construction dating from the Middle Ages - the characteristic style of dressing the stone proves this.

In the 12th century, monks constructed a Romanesque church on this site, which forms the basis of the present building (rectangular construction 8m x 4m - 26ft X 13ft).

The west wall is still clearly visible: construction of large blocks and full round arches (this is the wall on which there is a plaque in memory of the Fallen in the First World War), and under the present floor the foundations of part of the side wall still rest on some stone layers.

It was not until the 16th century that the church was enlarged to 12m x 4m - 39ft x 13ft. The whole nave was rebuilt and enlarged. This is the vaulted roof as you see it today with its supporting arches. A square hole in the  west wall and the disposition of the cornice bases on two levels leave one to suppose that there was once a gallery across the width of the building (as at Saint Martin’s church at Aujac).

The church, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, was a place of pilgrimage up to 1790.

Before the revolution, Sénéchas belonged to the diocese of Uzès; it was the principal seat of a deanery, which comprised fifteen parishes, namely: Sénéchas, Aujac, Sainte Cécile d’Andorge, Blannaves, Chamborigaud or Chausses, Notre Dame de Laval, Le Mas Dieu, Saint Andéol de Trouillas, Notre Dame de Castagnols, Saint Maurice de Ventalon, Gourdouze, Portes, Génolhac, Peyremale and Les Salles.

Floor plan of the church - Black: 12th century - Grey: 16th century - White: 19th century.

In the 19th century, the great increase in population and the opportunity provided by a legacy from Joseph Coulet made it possible to construct the side chapels, and to add the choir and the tower.

RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH AND THE PRESBYTERY

The restoration of the local built heritage is one of the Municipal Council’s main objectives. The Church Restoration Committee was created in 1975 at the instigation of Abbé Jean Roux, parish priest from 1958 to 1993.

Since that date, the Committee and the local Council have worked together in close collaboration.

Calendar of the various restoration achievements

1979 - Repair of the tower.

1982/1983 - The interior of the church was restored, highlighting the different periods of its construction.

1984 - The choir was tiled and the present altar installed.

1986 - First stage of remaking the floor.

1988 - Heating was installed and the cross in the choir was put in place.

1989/1991 - The walls of the south side chapels were stripped and replastered, the tabernacle was constructed and the floor completed.

1995 - Three new stained glass windows installed.

1996 - The church bell was electrified.

1997/1998 - The sacristy and annex room were restored, the roof was partly rebuilt.

2002 - The former presbytery was completely restored, to be converted into a new town hall and gites.

2005 - The square has been completely redesigned and repaved and the former town hall converted into gites. 

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About the stained glass windows

Information copied out by Jean Roux from the register of the deliberations from 1840 to 1878 of the "Conseil de la Fabrique" (Church Structure Maintenance Committee).

There had been donations from local families to install nine stained glass windows. Only five remain, dating from 1874:

- St John the Baptist from the Beaumes-Mercier family of Charnavas,

- St Joseph from the Mercier family of Martinenches,

- Sacred Heart from the Rose-Polge-Escalier family of Martinenches,

- St Peter from the Chalbos family of Mallenches,

- St Lawrence from the Amat family of Rouis.

The central window depicting Our Lady was put in place in about 1960.

In 1995, three non-figurative windows were installed.

About the discoveries made during the works

Among the approximately fifty coins found, fifteen coins as well as the Roman bronze coin have been identified by the Ales numismatic society.

The others are unfortunately in too poor condition to be attributed to any particular period.

All the coins are of different origin and kind.

They date from the 13th to the 17th century.

As they were not all discovered in the same place, they cannot constitute a single cache.

However, if evidence was needed, these coins attest to the long period of existence of the Church at Sénéchas.