Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Bellière, located in the commune of Champfrémont in the department of Mayenne, is mentioned for the first time in 1478. This fief then depended on the chestnut of the Poôté. In the 17th century, the family of the Portes erected a house there, before the estate passed in 1695, by alliance, to the Vaucelles de Ravigny, a line native to the Poitou whose coat of arms were silver to the head of Gules charged with seven billets of gold.

Between 1790 and 1813, Emmanuel-Alexandre de Vaucelles de Ravigny undertook major renovation works under the direction of architect Delarue. At that time, the castle included treed avenues, two ponds (reduced to one at the end of the 19th century), and a chapel dedicated to Saint-Hubert, originally linked to the Château de Ravigny but served at the Bellière in 1791. The moat, partially walled, is fed by a tributary of the Sarthon.

The estate then passes by inheritance to the Mery de Bellegarde, also owners of the forest next to Multonne. In 1780, Pierre-François Davelu described the castle as a place with beautiful avenues and a chapel. The monument was finally listed as a historical monument on 6 September 1995, recognizing its architectural and historical heritage.

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