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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castle of Vervant, mentioned in 1338, originally belonged to the family of La Rochandry, a powerful lineage in Angoumois and Saintonge. In 1509, Jeanne de La Rochandry, the last heiress, married Charles Poussard, thus transmitting the estate to this new family. Their son, Louis Poussard, without descendants, bequeathed Vervant to his wife, Jeanne de Gontaud, who then gave him to Jean de Gontaud-Biron. He sold the land in 1606 to Jean Boisseau, who even received King Louis XIII in 1621.

In 1720, the castle passed into the hands of Michel-Charles Amelot, Marquis de Gournay, then in 1735 to Antoine de Crès, whose son Louis restored him before giving him in 1782 to his daughter and son-in-law, the Viscounts of Sainte-Hermine. The latter, preferring to reside elsewhere, sold Vervant in 1792 to Jean Martell, merchant in brandies and founder of the famous Martell house. The castle then returned to his son, Jean-Gabriel, who sold it in 1816 to Countess Marie-Antoinette-Delphine de Goulard, heiress of an old family who owned the place.

In the 19th century, Lodois de Senigon, Viscount and husband of Marie-Caroline-Amélie Dupuy (heritage of a dynasty of merchants in cognac), undertook important restorations from 1870. During the Second World War, the castle, then owned by Roger de Senigon, was requisitioned by the Germans (1940-1944). Damaged, it is restored after the war thanks to the damage of war, under the direction of architect Jean Daugrois. The facades and roofs were finally classified as historical monuments in 1949.

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