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Origin and history

The Château de Montigny aux Cent-Acres, located in the commune of Cent-Acres in the Seine-Maritime, is a 17th-century residence built in the Louis XIII style. The building, made of stone and brick, consists of a central house body flanked by two wings in return, forming a quadrilateral lined with dry ditches. Each angle is marked by a pavilion with an independent attic. In the east, a courtyard of outbuildings and a vegetable garden border the castle, while a straight avenue precedes it to the north, and an English-style park extends south.

The building of the castle was initiated for Henri d'Ambray, who died in the middle of the seventeenth century, and remained in his family until 1870. This line occupied prestigious offices in the Normandy Parliament before the Revolution. His owners include Jean-Henri Dambray (1669-1706), President of the Parliament with mortar, his great grandson Charles Henri Dambray (1760-1829), President of the Chamber of Peers under the Restoration, and Emmanuel Dambray (1785-1868), pair of France and MP. After 1870, the castle passed to the Le Gras du Luart family, which kept it until the 1950s, with Jacques du Luart, Member of Parliament for Seine-Inferior, born there in 1881.

Interior furnishings, mainly dating from the 18th century, include flooring on the ground floor, decorated with carved and painted decorations. The chapel, renovated in the 19th century, has a panel and a three-level stand. The castle, surrounded by communes and outbuildings organised around a courtyard, has been listed as historical monuments since 30 December 1988. Although private property, it illustrates the architectural and social evolution of a Norman parliamentary family over centuries.

The remains of the 16th century, visible in the lower parts, attest to an older origin, but the present building is mostly representative of the 17th century, with changes in the 18th and 19th centuries. The protection covers not only the castle and its moats, but also the facades of the communes, the bread oven, the ride, and the fence walls of courtyards and vegetable gardens. This monument thus reflects both the seigneurial heritage and the successive adaptations to the needs of its occupants.

The location of the castle in the country of Caux makes it a remarkable example of Norman manors, combining residential, agricultural and representative functions. Its history, linked to major political figures, makes it an emblematic place of parliamentary and aristocratic memory of the region. Today, although closed to the public, there remains a preserved architectural and historical testimony, accessible via documentary sources such as the Mérimée base or the departmental archives.

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