Gress Manor en Mayenne

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Gresse mansion, mentioned in the 12th century under the name H. de Gressia in the Cartular of Marmoutier Abbey, was a fief dependent of Laval. His lords owed fifteen days' watch to the Tour Rennaise and supplied mackerel to Laval during Lent. The domain included feudal rights such as blood vairia and symbolic obligations, such as offering a cake by the newlyweds or lending spindles to the bride.

In 1474 Jean de Laval-Brée sold the Chevalerie de Châlons to the seigneur of Gresse. The estate covered several lands, including ponds (Grand-Étang, Chevalerie, Léhoudière) and mills, mentioned in 1523. In 1713 it included such places as the Epuisards or the Fouassière, and grew in 1737 with lands like the Etoyères or the Essarts. Conflicts erupted, like that of 1776 around a bench removed from the church of La Chapelle.

The former mansion was demolished in 1760 by Jean-Baptiste Duchemin, who built a new castle composed of a body of houses, pavilions and a terrace. The chapel, built on a feudal motte surrounded by moat, replaced an old leak. Around 1875, M. de Vauguyon built a new castle, which remained unfinished at the end of the 19th century. A marble basin with the coat of arms of the lords, similar to that of the Manoir Ouvrouin de Laval, was installed there.

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