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Origin and history

The castle of Bois-Héroult finds its origins in a Norman feudal fortification, mentioned since the 14th century as a "castle fort with the right to watch", located between a church and a cemetery. The remains of this era, including traces of foothills, remain in the surrounding woods. This strategic site controlled a major road crossing, including the "Chasseurs-marées road" linking Dieppe to Paris, and a Roman road used for salt transport, monitored for the gabelle.

The present castle was built between 1715 and 1721 by Jacques Alphonse de Civille Saint Mards, on land brought in dowry by his wife, Miss Bonissent de Buchy. Built in brick and stone with a high Louis XIII style roof, it replaced a razed medieval castle for the occasion. An artisan named Delalande signed a brick in 1721, near the double-revolution staircase. The park, originally French, was redesigned to English in the 19th century, then restored in the 1960s with straight perspectives and an enlarged basin.

The estate owes part of its prestige to Abbé Le Turcer de Longchamp (1748–29), botanist and chaplain of the Guards of the King's Corps, born in Bois-Héroult. In the 18th century he planted remarkable trees (cedars, redwoods, purple beech trees) and published La Flore des Environs de Rouen. The castle, its dovecote (late eighteenth), the communes (built around 1778 by the architect Hardy), as well as the park, have been protected as historical monuments since 1966–67. Today owned by Pradel de Lamaze's family, the estate opens to the public from June to September, outside August.

The nearby church, dedicated to the Nativity of Our Lady, dates from the 15th century and presents a carved wooden porch. It was a place of worship for the lords of Civil, then for the family of Broglie. A brotherhood married to Saint-Fiacre was approved in 1488, testifying to the religious anchoring of the village. The castle, turned towards the valley originally, was reoriented with the addition of a Louis XV parron around 1750, offered as a wedding gift in 1804.

Bois-Héroult, a rural commune of Seine-Maritime, thus retains a heritage linked to its Norman history, between medieval military strategy, 18th century classical architecture and botanical heritage. The estate, with its orangery and ancient statues, illustrates the evolution of the gardens and the influence of local elites on the landscape.

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