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Origin and history

Grenusse Castle is a 19th-century building located in Argentré, in the department of Mayenne (Pays de la Loire). It overlooks one of the most beautiful valleys of the Jouanne, 3,500 meters northeast of the village. Its architecture is distinguished by two round towers with salient cornices and sling windows. The chapel houses a plaster mould representing the death of Father Ducoudray, shot at the Rocket, pointing to a link with revolutionary unrest.

The Grenusse site was attested as early as 1453 under the name of Grenusses, then referred to in various archival documents (1494, 1545, 1594) as a fief whose pleas were held in Petit-Choiseau or in Chapelle-Rainsouin. In 1795, the farmhouse consisted of 55 newspapers of ploughable land, 12 stumps of meadows, and cutwood. The mill, mentioned in 1453, was abolished after 1875, while the moors were cleared. A notable episode of the Revolution concerned Julien Vannier, miller of Grenusse, arrested in 1793 with his daughter for ringing the bell in a draw, before being acquitted in 1794.

The archives reveal a toponymic evolution: Grand-Grenusse and Petit-Grenusse appear on the map of Cassini, designating mills and farms. The estate, linked to local lords not named in the sources, illustrates the feudal and post-revolutionary organization of Mayenne. The suppression of the mill and clearings in the 19th century reflect the agricultural and economic transformations of the region, while the chapel preserves the memory of a tragic episode of local history.

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