Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de la Pellonière came into being in the 13th century, when the site was transferred from its original location near the parish church, destroyed during the conflicts between the families of Bellème, the Giroie and the Dukes of Normandy. At that time, a stronghold surrounded by moat was built on the present hill, marking the beginning of its military and seigneurial history.

In the 15th century, the heirs of Robert du Grenier and Marguerite de Cochevilet undertook the construction of a new manor near the remains of a medieval cylindrical dungeon. This house, flanked by a polygonal staircase turret, replaced the ruins left by the Hundred Years' War, a period during which Henry V of England had briefly occupied the site. The work marked a transition to a more comfortable residential architecture.

The 17th and 18th centuries saw the castle expand significantly: wings, pavilions and an imposing dovecote were added under Henry IV, while at the beginning of the 18th century, a squared building linked the primitive house to the northern pavilion. In the 19th century, a restoration in the neo-Gothic style partially changed the aspect of the Henry IV pavilion, reflecting the romantic tastes of the era.

The castle, a private property not open to the public, preserves remarkable defensive elements such as a hexagonal tower, a scallop and traces of a enclosure flanked by round towers. Since 1967, its facades and roofs (the 15th century logis, angle pavilion, dovecote and entrance) have been listed as historical monuments, bearing witness to its heritage importance.

His history is also marked by various uses: in the 18th century, Charles-François Le Conte de Gersant transformed him into a holiday and rest home according to the wishes of Miss de La Rivière. Today, the site remains a representative example of the architectural evolution of Norman castles, from the Middle Ages to the modern era.

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