Construction of communes XVIIe siècle (≈ 1750)
Apparatus brick-stone in rare checker in Normandy.
14 juillet 1789
Death of Jourdan de Launay
Death of Jourdan de Launay 14 juillet 1789 (≈ 1789)
Governor of the Bastille, lord of the castle.
XVIIIe siècle
Central building
Central building XVIIIe siècle (≈ 1850)
Classic architecture massaged and access driveway.
début XIXe siècle
Acquisition by La Couldre
Acquisition by La Couldre début XIXe siècle (≈ 1904)
Manufacturer of Cherbourg harbour.
15 mars 2010
Registration for Historic Monuments
Registration for Historic Monuments 15 mars 2010 (≈ 2010)
Protection of facades, chapel and gardens.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
the facades and roofs of the house, as well as, in the part of the house of the eighteenth century, the staircase with its cage and the reception rooms of the ground floor; the entire chapel; the dovecote in full; the great common in total; the court of honor; the facades and roofs of the two garden pavilions and the gardener's house; all the walls of the estate; the entire hydraulic system; the plate of the garden garden and the garden of pleasure; the access aisle and the double-taluted hedges as shown on the plan annexed to the Order (see para. C 95, placedit Le Taillis, 96, placedit La Croûte, 97, placedit La Grande Bergerie, 98, placedit L'Herbage du Bois, 202-203, placedit Le Château, 204, placedit L'Etang du Château, 206, placedit Les Jardins, 207, placedit Le Château, 222, placedit La Longue Coin, 225, placedit Le Pré du Milieu de l'Aven, 226, placedit L'Avenue, 227, placedit Le Buisson de l'Avenue, 228, placedit La Cour des Buissons, 388-389, placedit Le Bois, 390, placedit La Pépinière, 419-420, placedit Le Grand Herbage du Château, 431, placedit La Coin du Moulin, 456, placedit La Ferme du Château): inscription by order of 15 March 2010
Key figures
Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay - Lord of the Bretonnière and Governor of the Bastille
Victim of the Revolution in 1789.
Louis de La Couldre de La Bretonnière - Engineer and owner of the castle
Designed Cherbourg's harbour.
Origin and history
The Château de la Bretonnière, located in Golleville in the English Channel, is a 17th and 18th century building. Its central home dates back to the 18th century, while the communes, built in the 17th century, have a rare alternating equipment in brick and stone damier, typical but isolated in the area. The estate includes a chapel, a dovecote, a walled vegetable garden and a water room, all of which have been listed as historical monuments since 2010.
The fief du Mesnil, on which the castle is built, already owned in the seventeenth century a house, a chapel and communes. The original house, characteristic of the Côtentinaise architecture with its flat hinges, was completed by a new body of classic houses in the 18th century. The latter, of massed plan, extends a majestic driveway, while hemicycle moats frame a pleasant garden. A brick dovecote, next to the chapel, completes the ensemble.
Among the notable owners, Bernard-René Jourdan de Launay (1740–89), seigneur de la Bretonnière and governor of the Bastille, was one of the first victims of the French Revolution. The castle then passed into the hands of Louis de La Couldre de La Bretonnière (1741–1809), designer of the Cherbourg harbour, who became its owner in the early 19th century. These figures illustrate the strategic and social importance of the domain throughout the centuries.
The site is protected for its facades, roofs, chapel, dovecote, and landscape elements (aisle, gardens, hydraulic system). The 2010 inscription also covers the walls of the estate, the garden pavilions, and the gardener's house, highlighting the architectural and historical coherence of the ensemble. The cadastral documents specify his control over several places, including Le Château and Les Jardins.
Golleville, a rural commune of the Channel in Normandy, has 163 inhabitants (2023) and retains a marked agricultural heritage, with 100% of its territory dedicated to cultivated land (prairies, arable land). The castle is part of this historical landscape, a witness to the architectural and social transformations between modern times and revolution.
The region's frank ocean climate, with annual precipitation around 890 mm and cool summers, preserved the castle's materials (stone, brick). The central location in the Cotentin, near Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and Valognes, strengthens its anchor in Norman history, between fief seigneurial and aristocratic residence.
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