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Origin and history

The farm of Trappes Castle rises on the remains of a 12th or 13th century castle, built in the muralis villa (fortified town) of Trappes. This castle, never a seigneurial residence, served as a stage lodging for the kings of France, including Louis IX (Saint Louis), Louis X the Hutin, Henri IV and Louis XIV. Successive property of the royal abbeys (Our Lady of Argenteuil, Saint-Denis) and of the Ladies of Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr, it was transformed into a farm at the end of the seventeenth century. Its walls, ditches and eleven turrets (including one shot down around 1920) made it a strategic stronghold.

During the Hundred Years' War, the castle housed local populations (Trappes, Élancourt) against the looting of roadmen and scavengers, such as those led by the Black Prince in 1356. In 1358, during the Jacquerie, Parisian insurgents burned down the mansion of the knight Jean Rigaud, captain of the castle. François I ate there in 1547 and strengthened his fortifications. In the 16th-17th centuries, the site lost its defensive role and became a farm, while its moat, its prison (marked by bars at windows) and its common oven recalled its seigneurial past.

In 1686 the land passed to the Ladies of Saint-Cyr, who rented it to farmers like the Dailly. During the Revolution, the farm was sold as a national property and purchased in 1792 by Thomas Pluchet, husband of Denise Dailly. Their descendant, Vincent Charlemagne Pluchet, modernized the operation in the 19th century and invented a plough in 1829. The Pluchet family kept the farm until 1945, when it was sold to the Cuypers, Belgian immigrants. Today, the buildings, partly transformed into dwellings and premises for activities, keep traces of the castle (contemporary porch, medieval pond, chasseurs-roue).

The site also houses archaeological remains, such as a Gallo-Roman bronze bracelet discovered at the "Petit mont" (registered in the 19th century) and traces of a medieval synagogue, reported in 1887 in the courtyard. In 2017, the historic pond, mentioned in the Middle Ages and present on Napoleonic plans (1811), was renovated to preserve its biodiversity. A 19th-century painting, La Ferme à Port Royal, bears witness to its heritage importance.

The farm illustrates the evolution of a seigneurial farm site, reflecting the social and economic changes of the Île-de-France, from medieval wars to the Industrial Revolution. Its park, acquired by the commune in the 1970s, is now the public space "Park Le Village".

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