Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

La Closerie des Poiriers is a place called Saint-Ouën-des-Toits (Mayenne), associated with the Cottereau family, known as the Chouan Family. Although not explicitly cited in the old archives, this fence was probably part of a Poiriers village dependent on the local parish. It housed Jean Cottereau, aka Jean Chouan, an emblematic figure of counter-revolutionary resistance in Bas-Maine. The present site, restored to evoke its eighteenth century appearance, serves as a museum on the caulianry, revolution and peasantry of the era.

The museum is divided into interior and exterior spaces. Inside, rooms exhibit documents, period clothing and a film about Jean Chouan, complemented by reconstructions of furniture and tools. The exterior features a garden cultivated according to the methods of the eighteenth century, a bread oven, a well, a coal hut and a sabotier cabin – an activity carried out by the ancestors of Jean Chouan, also false-saunier. These elements illustrate the rural and artisanal way of life of Bas-Maine, a region marked by traditional techniques such as aisle cover (chestnut lattes).

The architecture of the place is remarkable for its aisle roof, typical of Lower Maine. These chestnut slats, economic and sustainable, resisted weather and insects. Their tapered profile allowed optimal water flow and resistance to snow or hail. Returned after wear, they doubled their service life. This technique, attested since the Middle Ages, contrasted with the slate or tile roofs, reserved for urban or rural elites. The enclosure thus embodies a vernacular heritage linked to the social and agricultural history of the region.

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