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Origin and history

The Manor House of Toutfresville is a residence located in Cotentin, on the former town of Vasteville, now integrated in La Hague (Manche, Normandy). Probably built in the late 16th or early 17th century, it once belonged to the Jersey bailiff. Its access is through a double carriageway and pedestrian door, and it includes a built-in round tower, commons with a six-arch cartage, as well as a disused chapel, Sainte-Madelaine, erected in 1570. A local legend tells us that a young woman named Madeleine, victim of a shipwreck, would be buried there.

In 1521 Jacques Rosette, lord of Vasteville, was the first certified owner. The seigneury then passed to the Symon families and then Mesnil-Eury, whose coats of arms ("of sand with six pieces of silver") appeared on a bell of 1673. Charles-Olivier Rosette de Brucourt, descendant of Jacques, lieutenant at the French Guards, is the author of a Treaty of Education of the Young Nobility and the founder of the Library of Coutances. The manor house, partially listed as a historic monument since 1980, also retains a dovecote that has served as a defence tower.

The facades and roofs of the manor house (excluding the reconstructed building) and those of the outbuildings have been protected since the decree of 11 June 1980. The site also includes defensive and agricultural elements, reflecting its role both seigneurial and utility. The Sainte-Madelaine Chapel, although disused, remains a testimony of local piety and Norman maritime legends. GPS coordinates place the manor near the rue de la Pasture, in the present municipality of La Hague.

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