This is a very old village, in the neighbourhood of which are several tombs dating from a very remote period. The country was occupied by the Romans. Gallo-Roman remains have been discovered around the Château of Bellinglise. Under Charles-le-Simple, the village and chapel of St. Marguerite were given to the Abbey of St. Corneille at Compiègne. The Priory of St. Marguerite, founded by the Benedictines at the end of the 11th or beginning of the 12th century, was rebuilt in the 13th century. The district hereabouts suffered severely during the Hundred Years War. According to a local tradition, the old Château of Beauvoir, on the left of the Thiescourt road and now entirely overrun with vegetation, gave shelter one night to Joan of Arc, then a prisoner. This is not improbable, but the tablet in the church, bearing the following inscription: _Joan of Arc, before shutting herself up in Compiègne, in MCCCCXXX, made a pilgrimage to St. Marguerite and communicated in the church of Élincourt_, is not borne out by history, as she could not have gone to Élincourt--occupied by the English--seeing that she left Crépy to go to Compiègne. Parts of the church are early 12th century, the aisles and belfry 18th. The doorway includes three accoladed windows, with two other windows above surmounted by diamond-pointed moulding. In the interior, there is an 18th century marble altar. A marble statue of St. Marguerite was placed in safety during the war, but another of St. John (15th century) also in marble, has disappeared, together with the two shrines of St. Barbe and St. Marguerite. The church was seriously damaged, most of the vaulting being destroyed. At the eastern termination, the partial collapse of two buttresses laid bare some small 12th century columns which formerly ornamented the choir and which were walled in at the time the buttresses were reconstructed, probably in the 15th century. _Leaving the church on the left, follow the road as far as the first crossing. Leave the car and climb the hill-side on foot, as far as_ the =Monastery of St. Marguerite=, which dominates the whole valley of the Matz, and from which there is a fine view extending from Ressons Wood to the Soissonnais hills. Only fragments of the surrounding walls, a deep well, some cellars (which were transformed into shelters), and a number of old yew-trees remain. [Illustration: ELINCOURT-ST.-MARGUERITE AND THE VALLEY OF THE MATZ, SEEN FROM THE MONASTERY OF ST. MARGUERITE.] _On the way back, take the left-hand road, which joins G.C. 142. At the fork, take the right-hand road to_ =Marfontaine Manor=--practically intact--built in the 13th century on a Gallo-Roman mound, to the north of the Priory Garden. The great hall has low vaulting, the central springing of which rests on a round pillar; the keystones represent three entwined fishes. The =Château of Bellinglise=, abutting on Marfontaine Manor, was built in the 16th century. [Illustration: BELLINGLISE CHATEAU.]