Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Canisy, located in the Manche in Normandy, is a 16th century residence, renovated in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. It stands on a 300 hectare estate, including a 30-hectare English park, ponds and agricultural buildings. The present castle, built between 1575 and 1623 by Hervé de Carbonnel, officer of Henry IV and governor of Avranches, was designed according to the plans of architect François Gabriel. It incorporates 12th century remains, visible in the fortified round tower and the house body, attesting to an ancient occupation by the Carbonnel family, linked to William the Conqueror.

In the 17th century, the castle passed by inheritance to the Faudoas, several members of which, like Augustin-Hervé de Faudoas and his sister Catherine-Michelle, were guillotined in 1794 during the Revolution. Kergorlay's family, bound by marriage, recovered the estate after the Revolution. In the 19th century, Hervé de Kergorlay modernized the farm and redeveloped the park with the help of landscaper Chatelain, then of Achilles Duchêne around 1925. The castle, damaged in 1944, welcomed American officers like General Bradley after the Liberation.

The estate includes remarkable architectural elements, such as two 16th-century mâchicoulis cylindrical towers, a double-flyed staircase of 1588, and white limestone and red pudding stone facades. The park, created in the 17th century and renovated in the 18th and 19th centuries, includes greenhouses, orangery, and circular vegetable gardens. Several parts of the estate, including the castle classified in 1945 and the park registered in 1999, are protected as historical monuments.

The history of the site may date back to the feudal period, with assumptions on a Viking or medieval castle, although there is no archaeological evidence to confirm its exact location. The Carbonnels, lords of Canisy from the 12th century, occupied the place continuously until the end of the 18th century. The estate, still owned by the Kergorlay family in 2018, is partially open to the public during Heritage Days, with rooms available for rent.

Among the architects and landscapers who marked the estate, François Gabriel, ancestor of royal architects, is associated with the initial construction. The renovations of the 19th century involved Gabriel and Hervé de Kergorlay, as well as the departmental architect Harou-Romain for agricultural buildings. The park, inspired by English gardens, was complemented by romantic elements such as a model farm, reflecting the landscape trends of the era.

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