Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château d'Essertaux, located in the Somme en Picardie (current Hauts-de-France), is built around 1780 by Henri Gabriel de Béry d'Essertaux, Marquis du lieu. The latter, born in 1718, obtained in 1764 from Louis XV the erection of his seigneury in marquisat, including the lands of Essertals, Flers and Oresmaux. The castle, of classic style, consists of a body of rectangular stone houses, flanked by low wings and centered on a forebody decorated on three levels. Its construction was completed shortly before the death of the Marquis in 1791, in a pre-revolutionary context.

During the Terror, the castle was confiscated as a national property after the emigration of Claude Louis de Béry, son of the Marquis. His wife, Robertine de Surmont, bought it back in 1803 but sold it in 1826. The new buyer then demolished both wings, retaining only the central part. In 1828, the family of Guillebon, native to Picardie, became owner and retained it until 2005. General Jacques de Guillebon, a Companion of Liberation, was the last notable representative in the 20th century.

The estate is organized around a wooded and symmetrical esplanade, with commons built in the early eighteenth century. Ranked as a Historic Monument in 1926 for the castle, then in 2008-2009 for its park, outbuildings and axial driveway, the ensemble illustrates the picard aristocratic architecture of the end of the Ancien Régime. The letters patent of 1764, registered in the Paris Parliament, attest to his status as a marquisate under Louis XV.

Béry's family, which had been owned at Essertaux since the 16th century, marked the history of the place by its prestigious alliances, such as the marriage in 1664 of Marc Philippe de Béry with Madeleine Ancelin, linked to the nanny of Louis XIV. These royal connections facilitate the social ascent of the lineage, leading to the obtaining of the marquisat a century later. The castle, symbol of this power, then passes into the hands of noble Picardy families, including the Guillebon, a renowned military since the 15th century.

External links