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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Herrebouc Castle, located in Saint-Jean-Poutge in Gers, finds its origins in the 13th century as a medieval fortress. Unlike the classical gascon castles built in height, it was built in a valley near Baisus, in the immediate vicinity of a mill that it had to protect. Its defensive features — 1.60 m thick walls, operational mâchicoulis and breche — make it a hybrid example between the fortified room and the castle, sometimes confused with a mill due to its location and compact architecture.

Herrebouc's family, based in Gascogne, built the castle and the adjacent mill, the name of which knows several variations (Herreboc, Ferrebuc). The site, close to an ancient ford on the Bay, could have corresponded to the Vanesia station of the Puisinger table before excavations revealed its exact location at Molère. Strategically placed on a road between Auch and Eauze, the castle played a key role beyond the protection of the mill, although its dimensions remain modest.

In the 13th century, Pelegrine de Ferrabouc, widow of Géraud de Mimo, paid tribute in 1344 to the Count of Armagnac for the "High Ferrabouc", perhaps a neighbouring village. The castle remained in the hands of Herrebouc's family until 1392, when Mondine de Herrebouc married Bernard VI de Castelbajac. The following owners, such as the Verduzan (XVIIth–XVIIIth centuries), transform the castle: piercing of sill windows, addition of an interior staircase, and decoration of mural paintings from which remains remains. Hugues de Verduzan, a companion of arms of Jeanne d'Arc, illustrates the military prestige of this lineage.

In 1780, the estate moved to Antoine Hector de Cours, Baron du Vignau, avoiding revolutionary seizure. Ranked a historic monument in 1926 (castle) and 2002 (commons and mill), the site now houses a wine estate. Among his treasures, two medieval altar tables (including a preromana dated 990) classified in 2008 recall his religious heritage. The mill, one of the most imposing in the Bay, and the commons (extirpated chapel, dovecote, cellar) complete this architectural complex marked by work campaigns in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The architecture of the castle, of square plan (13.30 m × 12.20 m), is distinguished by its angle scalds, its four-slope roof and creneled walls. The Verduzans added a baluster terrace and an English park with a Venus temple. The vaulted cellars, the chapel with curved openings (now disappeared), and the dovecote with the typical consoles of the Henri IV era testify to its evolution. The mill, contemporary of the castle, retains an intact medieval base, while the outbuildings reveal ancient walls.

Archaeological and historical sources, such as the works of Philippe Lauzun (1911) or Jacques Gardelles (1970), highlight the regional importance of the site. Its inscription in historical monuments and the presence of classified furniture elements ( altar tables) make it a major testimony of the Gascon heritage, mixing medieval heritage, modern transformations and contemporary winemaking vocation.

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