The current church of Villers-Bretonneux, Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Villers-Bretonneux was built after WWI. Before this was a church built in 1859; here is an historic photo. There was a church in Villers-Bretonneux before 1859. The earlier church was used e.g. in Cassini's triangulation of France (see p. 155).
Does anybody have some information (building time, drawing, position) of the pre-1859 church in Villers-Bretonneux?
Well, I can't provide any specific location information, but following some of the listed sources from the wiki article leads to a page here which does contain a drawing titled Ancient Church of Villers-Bretonneux:
There is some more information there, and perhaps someone with better knowledge of French can figure the source of the image out.
(note some possible redirection type stuff going on at this web-page for me, so be careful if you click on anything)
The Wikipedia article indicates the location of the pre-1859 church:
L'existence d'une église dans la commune est attestée depuis le Moyen Âge, en 12191. Elle était située à l'emplacement du monument aux morts actuel. Elle fut remaniée en style gothique flamboyant où se remarquaient des éléments de style Renaissance, au XVIe siècle[2].
The existence of a church in the town has been attested since the Middle Ages, in 12191. It was located on the site of the current war memorial. It was remodeled in a flamboyant Gothic style with noticeable Renaissance style elements in the 16th century2.
This is the church in the figure in the answer by @justCal. The 1859 church, whose image is linked in the original question, was at the same place where the current church is located:
L'église actuelle remplace un édifice précédent construit de 1844 à 1859 pour répondre à l'accroissement de la population liée au développement économique de la commune. L'architecture extérieure de cette église d'inspirant de celle de l'abbatiale Saint-Pierre de Corbie et de l'église Sainte-Anne d'Amiens était de style néogothique3,4,5. Elle abritait une Vierge en bois de l'école de Blasset6. Cette église fut détruite en 1918 lors de la bataille de Villers-Bretonneux 7,8,9,10. Sa construction, dirigée par l'architecte Albert Guilbert, s'échelonna de 1927 à 1931Note 1. La tour-clocher porte la date de 1929 qui indique celle du baptême des cloches11.
The current church replaces a previous building built from 1844 to 1859 to respond to the increase in population linked to the economic development of the town. The exterior architecture of this church, inspired by that of the Saint-Pierre de Corbie abbey church and the Sainte-Anne church in Amiens, was in the neo-Gothic style[3,4,5]. It housed a wooden Virgin from the Blasset[6] school. This church was destroyed in 1918 during the battle of Villers-Bretonneux [7,8,9,10]. Its construction, directed by the architect Albert Guilbert, took place from 1927 to 1931[Note 1]. The bell tower bears the date of 1929 which indicates that of the baptism of the bells[11].
All the references as per the French version of the wikipedia article.
