Henri Deneux (1874-1969) joined the workshop of Edouard Thierot, architect of the diocese of Reims, at the age of seventeen. Thierot, who was in charge of Notre-Dame Cathedral, took him under his wing and soon entrusted him with the task of making precise surveys of the monument. These documents are on display today at the Le Vergeur Hotel-Museum in Reims. In 1915, Henri Deneux was appointed chief architect of Reims Cathedral. He tried to preserve the building as it was bombed. At the end of the war, in 1919, German prisoners took part in the clearing up. For twenty years, Deneux restored the cathedral and rebuilt the structure using reinforced concrete.