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Origin and history

The castle of Molières was built after 1284, the date of the foundation of the English bastide by the Sénéchal John I of Grailly, on the order of King Edward I of England. The bastide, with a charter of freedoms in 1285, was a strategic point in Périgord. The castle served as a fortified base for the exercise of royal authority, as attested by a complaint of 1314 by Sénéchal Guilhem of Toulouse, who had there built a prison tower and began the construction of the dungeon and ramparts with its deniers.

Construction of the castle, begun around 1287, was interrupted around 1320 for administrative reasons related to the reimbursement of costs by the English crown. The wall of enclosure, of square shape (50 meters side), was completed up to the level of the round road, while the central dungeon, isolated, is six meters sidewise. According to the local legend, this dungeon would have served as a prison for the White Queen, dying poisoned there, although this story is more a matter of folklore.

The site has been listed as historical monuments since 1948 for its ruins, including the enclosure and the dungeon. The castle illustrates the military architecture of the 13th-XIVth century in Périgord, marked by English influence during the Hundred Years War. The bastide of Molières, founded on a territory given by Guillaume de Biron in 1272, also retained a primitive church (Saint John) before the bastide, replaced by the church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Nativity in the 14th century.

The historical context reveals a disputed area between French and English, where bastides like Molières played a key role in territorial control. The Way of the White Queen and the Camin Ferrat, ancient routes through the commune, underline its importance as a medieval crossroads. Archaeological excavations revealed Gallo-Roman pieces, including one aureus from Nero, suggesting an occupation prior to the Middle Ages.

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