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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Chanteloup, mentioned in 1022 in a charter linked to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, was originally built by a companion of William the Conqueror. This lord, rewarded with land in England (Dorset, Hereford, Worcester), erected a manor house that had become the property of Chanteloup's family. In the 13th century, the alliance with Paynel through the marriage of Agnes de Chanteloup and Foulques III Paynel (1286) consolidated its seigneurial status.

In the 15th century, Foulque IV Paynel, Baron of Hambye and Bricquebec, made it a strategic fortress, defended by 4 bachelors and 10 to 14 shields. Confiscated by the English in 1418 during the Hundred Years' War, the castle was taken over in 1449 by the connetable of Richemont. Louis d'Estouteville, husband of Jeanne Paynel (last heir), repaired him after 1434, adding a dungeon and a reinforced enclosure. In 1432 English bounty hunters used to retain Norman resistance.

In the 16th century, Antoine d'Estouteville (1517–1556) abandoned the medieval dungeon for a Renaissance house, decorated with pilasters, candelabras and medallions, inspired by the castles of Lasson and Bricquebec. The site, a polygonal and moat-lined site, maintains a dormant bridge replacing an old drawbridge, as well as a quadrangular dungeon partially adamated by the Revolution. In 1594, the castle resisted a seat of the Leagues.

The French Revolution marked a destructive turning point: a Duprey lady had the dungeon shaved up to the second floor, removed the drawbridge and broken the shields. The castle, classified as a historical monument in 1929 (registration) and 1975 (partial classification), was acquired in 1655 by Jean de Montgomery, who added houses to it. Today, it houses a cider museum and visits, testifying to its military and seigneurial past.

The building combines two distinct epochs: the medieval dungeon (14th-15th centuries), 20 meters high after its arasement, and the Renaissance house (1536), decorated with Italian motifs (rins, fantastic animals). The cylindrical tower, contemporary of the dungeon, and the mâchicoulis recall its defensive role. The moat, fed by an artificial pond, and the bleeds of the drawbridge attest to its original protection system.

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