Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

This house, located in Périgueux in the Dordogne department, dates from the 15th century. It seems to have been responsible for monitoring the entrance to the city by the old Barris bridge. According to the descriptions, it is built in wooden panels and covered with flat tiles, with a central fireplace with two fireplaces dividing the unique room. The building is maintained above ground by crows and wooden pieces engaged in the wall, a technique typical of medieval defensive or surveillance buildings.

According to the sources, this building did not have exactly the same function as a creek, as the fiddling shot does not seem to have been possible here. Viollet-le-Duc specifies that an eschif (medieval term for this type of construction) was often a temporary structure, designed to strengthen the defence of approaches to a door or bridge. This monument thus illustrates the urban defensive architecture of the late Middle Ages, adapted to the needs of surveillance and access control.

Although classified as a historical monument, this house is sometimes confused with other local structures, such as the mill of Saint-Front, which is now extinct. It belongs to the city of Périgueux since 1976 and is located in the preserved area, near Saint-Front Cathedral. Its state of conservation, with its wood sections and torchi, makes it a rare testimony of medieval construction techniques in the region.

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