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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The tower of Bois-Ruffin is a fortified building built in the 2nd half of the 12th century on the former town of Arrou, now integrated in Vald Located between Arrou and Le Gault-du-Perche, it succeeds an older castle built to protect itself from Norman invasions. The site, already fortified in the 12th century, consists of a lower courtyard (formerly protected by a palisade) and a central core surrounded by water ditches, dominated by a 19 metre dungeon on four levels.

Ranked a historic monument in 1924, the fortress originally belonged to the lords of Perche-Gouët, and then passed into the hands of the Bruyère family in the 13th century, which built it between 1240 and 1250. During the Hundred Years' War, it was besieged by the Bourguignons in 1417, taken over by the French in 1421, then passed on to the Avaugour family until the 16th century. In the 17th century, François de Montmorency-Fosseux became its owner, but the castle, too dilapidated, was no longer habitable. His son, Leon, built a chapel there.

Confiscated during the Revolution after the exile of Anne Léon II of Montmorency-Fosseux in 1792, the fortress was sold in 1794. Repurchased in 1866 by the Marquise de Gontaut-Biron, then in 1922 by a local farmer, it was finally purchased for a symbolic euro in 2018 by the commune of Arrou. In December 2024, new elements (chapel, stable, house, ditches) were included in historical monuments, complementing the initial protection of 1924.

Architecturally, the tower stands at the bottom of a funnel excavation, built of grey and large flint. Its entrance, originally located on the first floor, overlooks a ditch crossed by a drawbridge today disappeared. The remains also include a wall connected to an advanced building commanding access, as well as ditches surrounding a space formerly occupied by houses, barns and a wooden chapel transformed into a dwelling.

The site illustrates the evolution of medieval fortifications in the Centre-Val de Loire, marked by feudal conflicts and the Hundred Years War. Its history also reflects the changes in property related to political upheavals, from the Old Regime to the Revolution, to its contemporary preservation as a local heritage.

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