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Origin and history

The Manor House of the Grand Court, located in Taden (Côtes d'Armor), is a house-porch of the 4th quarter of the 14th century, typical of Breton seigneurial architecture. It consists of two distinct parts: to the north, the seigneurial residence with an angled stair tower, and to the south, a secondary house for a host or registrator. These spaces are separated on the ground floor by a carriageway door, while a staircase turret, covered by a watch platform, serves the floors. The smooth tympanum of the main door used to wear a painted coat of arms, now gone. This manor house, surrounded by an enclosure, was the heart of Taden's Viscounty, under Dinan.

According to archaeological sources, the site occupies a crossroads of Gallo-Roman roads. The house, oriented to the east, has a rare peculiarity in Brittany: a large central vaulted passage, unique in the manors of the region, which structured the division of functions between the two courts. The seigneurial residence is distinguished by higher windows and a large fire room on the ground floor, possibly transformed into a kitchen. Upstairs, a room or upper room dominated the whole, while latrines and a wooden courier (now extinct) complemented the facilities. The secondary house, accessible by an outside porch, housed three superimposed rooms, including the second-level room.

The manor is associated with the family of Quédillac, including Geoffroy de Quédillac, ecuyer de Duguesclin, quoted in the watches of 1370 and probably sponsor of the manor. His grandson, Robert de Quédillac, mentions in 1450 the "Hostel and Manor of Taden with gardens" in a seigneurial confession. The property then passed to the Ferré de la Garaye by marriage in 1513, then to the Marot des Alleux until the eighteenth century. The seigneury of Taden, raised in vicount in 1644, saw the mansion lose its residential role after 1618, the owners then using the communes for the parking of the couplers during the religious services.

Ranked a historic monument in 1993 after its takeover by the commune in 1991, the mansion was restored in the 1990s, led by Alain Charles Perrot. It aimed to restore its presumed Gothic state, notably by rebuilding a chimney strain after a 15th century model and consolidating the commons. Missing elements, such as a 14th century portal (now at the Petit Bon Espoir), or a seigneurial house mentioned in a 1552 minu, attest to successive transformations. Traces of painted decoration (hermine mouches) and layouts such as a double octagonal chimney have been preserved or restored.

The site preserves remains of its original, partially reconstructed enclosures and related buildings (stable, supplied) dated the 16th century. A 1552 document describes a lost seigneurial home north of the courtyard, with a lower room, kitchen, and latrines, suggesting a complex spatial organization. Subsequent changes, such as the addition of a low wing in the 19th century or the transformation into a farm, have been partially erased during recent work. Today, the mansion illustrates the evolution of Breton aristocratic residences, between defensive function, seigneurial symbolism and agricultural adaptations.

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