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Origin and history

Beaumont-le-Richard Castle, built in the 12th century or early 13th century, is a rare example of Anglo-Norman seigneurial lodge still partially standing. Located on a hill in Bessin, 1.2 km from Saint-Vigor church of Englesqueville-la-Percée (Calvados), it is distinguished by its absence of dungeon and its two round towers covered with stone caps. The ensemble, redesigned in the 17th century, also includes the remains of a enclosure and a castral chapel overlooking a vaulted room, perhaps the former residence of the lords. Arcisse de Caumont described it as a "house of a rich baron rather than a fortress", emphasizing its residential character more than defensive.

The seigneury, attested from the year thousand, passed to the family of the Hommet in the 12th century through the marriage of Agnes de Say, the heir of his brother who died without descendants, with Richard I of the Hommet (v. 1115–1180), connetable and senechal of Normandy. The castle derives its name from the latter. In 1220 Enguerrand du Hommet ceded the church and tithes of the estate to the Abbey of Mondaye, and in 1239 Guillaume du Hommet was mentioned as a chestnut. During the English occupation (1418–150), Thomas de Hottot, a French supporter, was dispossessed of his seigneury.

In the 16th century, the site houses Huguenote meetings, as evidenced by the newspaper of Jehan Canivet (1540), evoking a gathering in the parish. In the 17th century, the castle, disused as a seigneurial residence, was transformed into a farm, a function it retained until World War II. The chapel, reassigned to worship around 1640, and the vestiges (story vaulted, antechamber decorated with Romanesque archatures) recall its medieval past. A village once existed on the site, with houses before 1600 and an underground Calvinist sermon in an attic in the 16th century.

The castle is partially protected as historical monuments: the chapel and Romanesque elements (window with broken poles, cornice) are classified in 1919, while the archaeological plate (vestiges buried and in elevation) is inscribed in 1997. The excavations revealed lead and stone coffins in the old cemetery, testifying to its ancient occupation. Today, the site combines medieval ruins and agricultural buildings of the 17th–15th centuries, illustrating its evolution through the ages.

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