Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Haule mansion, located in Aclou in the department of Eure (Normandy), is a medieval building built around 1360, during the Hundred Years War. It was a dependence of the priory Saint-Lô de Rouen, reflecting its religious and agricultural importance. Its architecture, inspired by English models with a base-cruck frame and an H-shaped plan, is atypical for the region. The house, blocked with flint and wooden panels, was organized around a large central room framed with rooms.

The tithe barn, added around 1491, was used to collect the priory's agricultural income. From a rectangular plan to three naves, it features a floor porch decorated with priory shields. Seized as a national good during the Revolution, the mansion was sold and transformed into a farm, still active today. The barn was restored in 2016 by the association Charpentiers sans frontières, preserving its medieval constructive techniques.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2020, the site is distinguished by its 14th century structure, rare in Normandy, and its link to English architecture. The name Haule comes from the Norse hallr ("slope"), evoking its position near the Risle valley. The mansion thus illustrates the religious, agricultural and architectural history of the region, from medieval times to the present day.

External links