The west front of the church of St. Giles is not devoid of interest.  Many other churches here have been desecrated; and this ancient building has been converted into a stable.  The door-way is formed by a fine semi-circular arch, ornamented with the chevron-moulding, disposed in a triple row, and with a line of quatrefoils along the archivolt.  Both these decorations are singular:  I recollect no other instance of the quatrefoil being employed in an early Norman building, though immediately upon the adoption of the pointed style it became exceedingly common; nor can I point out another example of the chevron-moulding thus disposed.  It produces a better effect than when arranged in detached bands.  The capitals to the pillars of the arch are sculptured with winged dragons and other animals, in bold relief.

These are the only worthy objects of architectural inquiry now existing in the city.  Many must have been destroyed by the ravages of war, and by the excesses of the revolution.—­Evreux therefore does not abound with memorials of its antiquity.  But its existence as a town, during the period of the domination of the Romans, rests upon authority that is scarcely questionable.  It has been doubted whether the present city, or a village about three miles distant, known by the name of Old Evreux, is the Mediolanum Aulercorum of Ptolemy.  His description is given with sufficient accuracy to exclude the pretensions of any other town, though not with such a degree of precision as will enable us, after a lapse of sixteen centuries, to decide between the claims of the two sites.  Caesar, in his Commentaries, speaks in general terms of the Aulerci Eburovices, who are admitted to have been the ancient inhabitants of this district, and whose name, especially as modified to Ebroici and Ebroi, is clearly to be recognized in that of the county.  The foundations of ancient buildings are still to be seen at Old Evreux; and various coins and medals of the upper empire, have at different times been dug up within its precincts.  Hence it has been concluded, that the Mediolanum Aulercorum was situated there.  The supporters of the contrary opinion admit that Old Evreux was a Roman station; but they say that, considering its size, it can have been no more than an encampment:  they also maintain, that a castle was subsequently built upon the site of this encampment, by Richard, Count of Evreux, and that the destruction of this castle, during the Norman wars, gave rise to the ruins now visible, which in their turn were the cause of the name of the village[44].

It is certain that, in the reign of William the Conqueror, the town stood in its present situation:  Ordericus Vitalis speaks in terms that admit of no hesitation, when he states that, in the year 1080, “fides Christi Evanticorum, id est Evroas, urbem, super Ittonum fluvium sitam possidebat et salubriter illuminabat[45].”