The foundation of Notre-Dame de Varennes Abbey is uncertain, although it is generally attributed to Ebbes of Déols, lord of Charenton († 1160). According to Cistercian records, a community of monks from Vauluisant Abbey (Yonne) settled here in 1148. In 1155, Henry II of England (1133–1189) proclaimed himself the founder of the abbey following a dispute over this matter.
Nevertheless, the lords of Déols and Cluis continued to support the monastery. Knowledge of Varennes' history is very limited owing to the loss of much of its documentation. It is known that the Wars of Religion caused no serious damage to the abbey in 1589. However, it entered a long period of decline and, by the time of the French Revolution in 1791, the community had been reduced to just two monks. Suppressed that same year, the abbey was sold and converted into a residence that was frequented by several artists, among them the writer George Sand (1804–1876).
Affiliation of Varennes
According to Originum Cisterciensium (L. Janauschek, 1877)Very little of the monastic complex survives. Originally, the church consisted of a three-aisled nave, a transept, and an eastern end probably comprising a central apse flanked by two rectangular side apses on each side, in keeping with Cistercian architectural models. Today, only part of the church's central nave, rectangular in plan, survives. Also preserved are heavily altered remains of the buildings adjoining the western gallery of the cloister, which has almost entirely disappeared.
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Varennes stands in an isolated location within the commune of Fougerolles, south of Châteauroux