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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The manor house of Barville, built at the hinge of the 15th and 16th centuries, stands on the commune of Mesnil-au-Val, in the department of the Manche. He originally belonged to the Fou family, then passed to the Picot by the marriage of Jeanne du Fou with Guillaume IV Picot in 1507. Gilles Picot de Gouberville's father made him a place of residence until his partial destruction by fire in 1886.

The tower of Barville, the only remaining element, probably dates from the 15th century. From a square to its base and then octagonal, it houses a chapel on the ground floor and a dovecote on the first floor, accessible by a spiral staircase. Its stoneware walls and limestone frames of Caen and Yvetot-Bocage testify to its original architecture. A sundial adorns its south face.

The mansion is famous for having been the birthplace of Gilles Picot de Gouberville (1522-1578), whose Journal (1549-1562) offers a valuable testimony on rural life in North Cotentin in the 16th century. The seigneury, described in 1519 as a "haubert fief" with manor, chapel and aviary, left the Picot line in 1580 after an estate division. The tower was listed as a historic monument in 1987.

Today, the tower of Barville, located 700 metres south of the church of Notre-Dame du Mesnil-au-Val, remains the last vestige of this heritage. Its access reveals a curved door surmounted by a shield, while its roof preserves a skylight for pigeons. The site, although partially destroyed, continues to bear witness to Norman seigneurial history.

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