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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Launay castle, located in Saint-Paër in the Seine-Maritime, was built in the 1st quarter of the 18th century by Pierre-Robert Le Cornier de Cideville, adviser to the Parliament of Normandy. The building, of classic style, combines brick and limestone, typical of Norman architecture of the period. It partially replaces an earlier building of the early 17th century, erected for Raoul Labbé, also an adviser to Parliament, but damaged by a fire. The castle is listed in the Historical Monuments by order of 2 February 1932, while its park and communes are listed on 12 February 1948.

The site preserves traces of its seigneurial use, as a press with long hugs still visible in 1976, showing its economic role in local agricultural or wine production. Saint-Paër, rural village of Les Boucles de la Seine Normande, was then marked by a mixed economy, between arable land (59% of the territory in 2018) and forests (16%), with hydrography dominated by the Austerberthe, tributary of the Seine.

The castle is part of a wider historical landscape, including other monuments such as the Saint-Paër church or the Mesnil-Vasse mansion, reflecting the social stratification of the Old Regime. The municipality, absorbing L-Aulnay and Les Vieux in 1823, also suffered major floods in 2000, recalling its vulnerability to the Austreberthe floods. Today, Launay Castle remains a symbol of Normandy's parliamentary heritage, linked to the judicial elite of the country.

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