Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château du Bourg-Saint-Léonard replaces a former 16th-century mansion and a village razed in 1763 by Jules-David Cromot, Baron du Bourg. The latter, rich owner, entrusted the construction of the new castle (1763-1767) to the architect Alexandre Gérard Vermunt, pupil of Jean-Michel Chevotet. The estate was completely rethought: the medieval church gave its place to an orangery, the houses of the village were replaced by lawns, and a large basin decorated with statues was dug. The castle, of late classic style, preserves woodwork and tapestries from the old mansion.

The estate, with an area of 470 hectares in the 19th century, included stables, a farm, woods and farmland. Occupied during the Second World War and bombed in 1944, he was finally bequeathed to the commune in 1954 by Henriette de Forceville, on condition of creating a museum there and opening the site to the public. The castle, its outbuildings and its garden have been classified as historical monuments since 1942, with their furniture and decorations protected in 1955.

Among the notable owners are the Vassy families, Cromot du Bourg, and the Earl of Eu, as well as personalities such as Émile de Girardin, protected by Rose Josephine Cromot, or the poet Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, received in the library of the castle. The interiors house works by Frans Snyders and a frieze of chinery inspired by Christophe Huet. The site illustrates the evolution of aristocratic residences in the Enlightenment century, combining architectural ambition and landscape transformation.

The architecture of the castle, rectangular with a central forebody surmounted by a pediment, reflects the influence of the Parisian models of the era. The adjoining buildings (orangery, stables) and the walled park, partially renovated under Louis XVIII to create a road, complete a coherent whole. The collections, described in 1948 by Robert du Mesnil du Buisson, bear witness to the artistic richness preserved despite historical vicissitudes.

The castle was also a place of industrial cheese production from 1893, under the impulse of Constant de Forceville, before regaining its heritage vocation. Today it is communal property, and it continues its dual cultural and social mission, in accordance with the wishes of its last donor.

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