Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Bénouville, located in the rural commune of Bénouville in the Seine-Maritime, is a building listed as a Historic Monument since 1972. This castle, whose facades, roofs and some indoor lounges are protected, was partially damaged during the Second World War. He was successively occupied by the German and then American armies after the Normandy landing, and suffered notable damage: the interior woodwork was torn and burned to heat the place, leaving the building in an advanced state of disrepair.

The owners of the castle, returning to their homes in a pitiful state after the war, condemned part of the building before beginning its rehabilitation in the 1980s. This monument is also linked to French literary history, as the village of Bénouville inspired Guy de Maupassant for his new Miss Harriet, published in 1883. The castle thus embodies both an architectural heritage and a witness to the historical upheavals of the twentieth century.

The municipality of Bénouville, classified as rural and coastal, is marked by a frank oceanic climate and a predominantly agricultural land use. The castle, located near the Valleuse du Curé (whose historic staircase collapsed in 2001), is part of a landscape shaped by the cliffs of the coast of Albâtre. Its inscription under the title of Historical Monuments covers precise elements, such as the interior staircase with its wrought iron ramp and the living rooms maintaining their original decor.

The village, although modest with a population of 168 in 2023, attracted artistic personalities, such as painter Henri Gaston Darien or director Xavier Beauvois, who shot scenes from his film Le Petit Lieutenant in 2005. These cultural ties reinforce the heritage importance of the castle, a symbol of a territory marked by history, literature and the arts.

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