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Origin and history

Boves Castle is an ancient castle located 8 km southeast of Amiens, in the Somme (Hauts-de-France). Today in ruins, it preserves an artificial castral mot and two walls of a 14th century tower, remains of its last reconstruction. This site, occupied continuously from the 9th to the 17th century, was a major aristocratic residence and a centre of regional power.

The castral moth, probably erected in the 10th century, was enlarged several times. In the 12th century, the courtyard housed the Priory Saint-Ausbert, attached to Cluny. In the 14th century, Ferry I of Vaudémont rebuilt the castle, whose remains remain. The site was dismantled in 1595 and served as a stone quarry.

Archaeological excavations (1996-2019) revealed a continuous and complex occupation, with successive developments between the 9th and 17th centuries. The motte, entirely man-built, dominated a 5.1 ha lowyard including religious settlements and village housing. Its innovative drainage system limited erosion.

In the 19th century, only the remains of a tower remained, as Victor Hugo noted in 1835: "a great dungeon died." Recent research, led by Philippe Racinet and Richard Jonvel, has documented the evolution of the site, including its links with the clunisian priory and its role in the pacification of the Amienois (12th century).

The castle, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1926, illustrates the adaptation of a medieval fortress to political and military needs over seven centuries. Its promontory, barred by ditches and overlooking the confluence of the Noye and the Aprus, made it a strategic site in Picardia.

The artifacts discovered (ceramics, metal objects, animal remains) reflect the daily life and economic practices (breeding, fishing, agriculture) of the occupants. Carpological and zooarcheological studies revealed, inter alia, data on feeding and pig farming between the 10th and 14th centuries.

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