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Origin and history

The castral motte of Haut-Castel, located at the place known as Vieux Château in Saint-Amans-de-Pellagal (Tarn-et-Garonne), is a medieval defensive structure erected at the southern end of a promontory overlooking the Bargueronne valley. The sommital platform, of oval shape (60 m x 35 m), supports the remains of two towers: one square brick (late XII–early 13th century, 10 m high), the other semicircular stone (XIV–15th century, 4.50 m). These structures illustrate the evolution of fortification techniques between the central and late Middle Ages.

Cited in the 10th century under the names Hautmont or Aucastels, the site initially belongs to the Durfort family, then passes to the Loubéjac by alliance. In 1230, Arnaud Gausbert de Castagner married Alix de Loubéjac, lady of Haut Castel, integrating the estate into this lineage. The Castagners, mentioned as early as 1085 among the bas-Quercy aristocracy, kept the castle until 1614, when it was bombed for three days during an estate dispute between Antoine de Castagner and his sister-in-law. Abandoned after this episode, it was replaced by a new castle around 1760 on a nearby hill.

The site, inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 2022, also includes traces of a enclosure and cadastral plots (section A, n°308 to 310 and 318). Its strategic location, southwest of Vaux, reflects its historic defensive role in an area marked by the presence of many castra. The current remains, although partially preserved, offer a material testimony of the seigneurial dynamics and architectural transformations between the 12th and 15th centuries.

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