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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de Préaux-Saint-Sébastien is a residence whose origins date back to the 16th century, although elements of the 17th and 18th centuries are also present. It stands on the site of an old castle, in the current new town of Livarot-Pays-d'Auge, facing the church of Saint Sebastian. The fief, under the Lande in Cerqueux, was a half-fief of haubert, and his lord had the right to appoint the local priest. The first written traces mention Osbert Halbout, a priest living in the early 14th century, as a known lord.

At the end of the 14th century, the fief passed to the family of Saint-Aubin, before being temporarily confiscated in 1412 during the English occupation during the Hundred Years War. In the 15th century, it fell to the Baudouin family, which began the construction of the present castle. Gaston Baudouin, seigneur of Preaux, is at the origin of the oldest parts, dated the sixteenth century. The estate then changed hands several times: he passed to the Muges in 1595 by the marriage of Marie Baudouin with Scipion de Moges, then to Les Lebas in 1730, before being owned by the families of Maney (1802) and Triboul (1844).

The present castle presents an 18th century rectangular house body, flanked by two cylindrical towers of the 17th or 16th centuries, depending on the sources. These towers, covered with pepper roofs, are connected by a low brick construction. The triangular front of the east façade, the ground strips and the brick chimneys testify to its architectural evolution. A cylindrical dovecote of nearly 30 meters in diameter, adorned with an alternation of pink bricks and limestone, completes the whole. Arcisse de Caumont also evokes a possible past of priory, suggested by the local name "la Moinerie".

Ranked historic monument by decree of 7 November 1927, the castle illustrates the seigneurial and architectural heritage of Normandy, mixing medieval, Renaissance and classical influences. The descriptions of Arcisse de Caumont and subsequent studies highlight his heritage interest, in particular for his defensive elements transformed into residences and his sculptural details, partially erased by time.

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