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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Tailly-l'Arbre-à-Mouches is a white stone construction of the 1730s-1740s, typical of the classic style with its high French attic and its neat model. It was built by the family of Mannay de Camps, which kept it until after the French Revolution. Its sober architecture includes a central body framed with two wings, topped by a semicircular pediment.

In the 19th century, the estate changed hands several times before being acquired in 1925 by Adrien de Hauteclocque, who offered it to his son Philippe, future Marshal Leclerc, on the occasion of his marriage. The Leclerc family, who lived there until 1947, left a lasting impression: furniture, portraits, personal objects and memories of war displayed on the farm. The castle also preserves interior decorations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, such as woodwork and a panoramic wallpaper.

The estate includes a farm with traditional buildings (stone, woodpan, torchi), partially built in the 19th century, as well as a wooded park crossed by a 500-metre driveway leading to the castle. Since 1995, the complex (castle, farm, park and avenue) has been listed as a Historic Monument. An exhibition in the barn traces the epic of Marshal Leclerc during the Second World War.

Today, privately owned by the Marshal's descendants, the castle remains a testimony to both the classical architecture of the eighteenth century and the French military history of the twentieth century. Its park and outbuildings also illustrate the traditional rural construction techniques of Picardia.

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