The current building is the third church built in La Mothe-Achard.
The first, church, Sainte Marie de MOTA–CHART, rose a few hundred meters lower than this one, towards the east of Bourg-Paillé. Of this construction, we know nothing, except that it was the main church of La Mothe-Achard which then had two parishes. It was probably burnt down during the Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and never rebuilt.
From then on, La Mothe had only one parish and only one church.
The second church, the Saint-Jacques church, was undoubtedly the castle chapel. It stood from the 12th century on the site of the current church.
It was built on the model of the Chapelle-Achard, at least at the level of the apse and the choir nave of the same width. It was enlarged, remodeled and consolidated several times: the first time in 1636, after the wars of religion where it suffered the same fate as Sainte-Marie, then in 1785. During the Revolution, the church was spared from fire. lit in 1794 by the soldiers of the Convention and which completely destroyed the town. It then served as an ammunition depot and stable, a use from which it emerged very damaged. Restored from 1801 to 1806, it returned to normal use until 1898 when, overcome by age, too small and threatening to collapse, it was demolished. Its stones were embedded in the walls of the new church, built on the same site.
This was therefore started in 1898, at a time when in Vendée, hundreds of the same type were being raised or built. It was open to worship in the last months of 1899 and consecrated on May 1, 1901 by Mgr Catteau, then Bishop of Luçon. The fashionable style was neo-Gothic, recognizable by the use of the pointed arch which is found both in the windows and in the vaults of the building.
It must be assumed that the small dimensions of the previous church were poorly tolerated by its parishioners since for this one, neither the space (it can hold up to 800 people) nor the volume (as well as This can be seen from the elevation of the vaults). Another concern of the builders seems to have been to make this building a monument worthy of a flourishing cantonal capital: it had to be seen from afar, hence the proud neo-Gothic spire pierced with tiny openings. arrows which rise to more than fifty meters and dominate the entire surrounding countryside.
