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Origin and history

The Canon House is a building built in 1596 in La Roche-Bernard, Morbihan, combining Renaissance and late Gothic styles. Originally a private residence, its façade had sills and crumbs windows, later replaced by more modern openings. The Renaissance-style southern skylights and the roof surmounted by a campanile (added around the 19th century) for the municipal bell testify to its architectural evolution.

The name of the house originated in the 18th century, after the Battle of Cardinals (1756 or 1760 depending on the sources). The French vessel L-Inflexible, stranded in the Vilaine, left his crew and a cannon there, planted in an angle of the vessel as a button. The officers or the commander stayed there temporarily, marking his history. The cannon, always visible, symbolizes this naval episode.

Acquired by the municipality in the 19th century, the house became the town hall of La Roche-Bernard in 1849. His campanile, sheltering the pendulum and the bell, probably dates from this period. Ranked a historic monument in 1941, it illustrates Breton maritime and architectural heritage, between Renaissance heritage and the memory of naval conflicts.

Located in the Place du Pilori, in an island delimited by the streets of the Doctor-Cornudet and Haute-Notre-Dame, the house also embodies the historic town planning. Its inscription in the title of historical monuments (decree of 11 January 1941) protects the entire building, a communal property since the 19th century.

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