Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Tancarville came into being in the 11th century, when Raoul de Tancarville, the chamberlain of the Duke Guillaume le Bâtard (later William the Conqueror), obtained permission to build a fortress after having founded the Abbey of St George of Boscherville in 1050. The site, strategic on a triangular spur overlooking the Seine, was completed in the 12th century by a square tower probably serving as a Roman dungeon, with thick walls of 1.65 meters. This first castle protects the river entrance and symbolizes the power of the Sires of Tancarville, linked to the Norman ducal court.

Over the centuries, the castle changed hands through matrimonial alliances and inheritances. In 1316 Jeanne de Tancarville married John II of Melun, giving birth to the lineage of the Counts of Tancarville. The estate then moved to Harcourt (1417), then to Orléans-Longueville (1488), before being attached to the duchy of Longueville in 1505 under Louis XII. During the Hundred Years War, the title of Count of Tancarville was even awarded to an English nobleman, John Grey, before the Harcourt family recovered the place after the British left. These transitions reflect the political turbulence of medieval Normandy.

The 17th century marked a turning point with the construction of the "Château Neuf" (1709) by Louis de La Tour d'Auvergne, Count of Évreux and Tancarville. This classic building, backed by medieval remains, modernises the whole, but the site was looted and burned after 1789. In the 20th century, the castle became a resort for artists such as Maurice Maeterlinck, Colette or James Joyce (1910-1939), before being transformed into a holiday colony in the 1960s. Today, despite its ranking as historical monuments (1862), it is deteriorating, closed to the public due to structural risks and controversial rehabilitation projects.

Architecturally, the castle combines a triangular enclosure flanked by towers (turn of the Eagle, tower of the Lion) and seigneurial houses in ruins. The almond dungeon, built in the 15th century by the Harcourts, has disappeared, but remains defensive elements such as the Carrée Tower (20 m) and medieval halls (chapel of 1131, room of knights). The "Château Neuf", sober with its triangular pediment, partially masks the southern ramparts. These vestiges reflect successive adaptations, from military needs to residential ambitions.

The castle is also linked to cultural and cynegetic anecdotes. Maurice Leblanc wrote Le Bouchon de cristal (1912) in the Aigle tower, while the Sires of Tancarville organized heron hunts, disturbed by eagles — whose nests were rewarded (5 soils per nest in 1411). In 1933, a giant boar, nicknamed "the solitaire", was shot down in the woods of the estate. These accounts illustrate aristocratic life and local traditions, between literature and hunting.

Since 2001, the castle has belonged to a civil real estate society (Saqqara), whose project of 19 luxury apartments — via tax facilities (Malraux law) — remains untaboti. In 2019, only part of the roof had been repaired, pushing the town hall to ban access for danger. This emblematic case raises questions about the preservation of private heritage, between speculation and negligence, despite its protected status and its millennial history.

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