Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Vieuxville is a building located in Saint-Cast-le-Guildo, in the Côtes-d'Armor department, Brittany. Built between 1804 and 1826 by Jean-Jérome-François Besnard, it replaces a former medieval mansion that served as the principal residence for the seigneurs of Gouyon-Beaucorps. The house body, with an elongated rectangular plan, is built of shale and granite, with an orderly elevation to six spans. A hors-oeuvre stair tower with cut-pans is added later, and traces of masonry covers indicate the addition of a sixth span.

The castle was transferred to the bishopric of Saint-Brieuc in 1940 and then sold the same year to the inspector general of the studs Le Harivel de Gonneville. The latter undertook modifications, including the addition of a sixth span to the house body and transformations in dependencies. The site also includes ancillary buildings dating from different periods: two 19th-century adjoining houses, a stable and a stable from the end of the 18th century, a 20th-century car rebate, and two 17th-century buildings surrounding the entrance to the courtyard.

The castle is included in the general inventory of cultural heritage. Its architecture reflects a continuous evolution, marked by reconstructions in the nineteenth century and enlargements in the twentieth century. The dependencies, some of which date from the seventeenth century, bear witness to the agricultural and domestic activity related to the estate. The old gate estate, restored and redesigned in the 20th century, completes this historic ensemble.

The site is mentioned in specialized works such as Manoirs: A History in Brittany (2021), which highlights its importance in Breton heritage. Available sources, including the Brittany Inventory and the Merimée base, provide architectural and historical details on this emblematic monument of the Côtes-d'Armor.

External links