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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The castral motte of Saint-Sever-Calvados is a medieval vestige located in the forest of Saint-Sever, 1.4 km southwest of the village, near the pond of the Old Castle. This castle of land and wood, typical of feudal fortifications, dates from 1000 to 1050. It was destroyed by fire around 1050, marking the end of his occupation. Its location, close to a Roman road linking Avranches to Vieux, suggests a strategic role, although its abandonment followed the construction of the Abbey of Saint-Sever by Richard Goz, Viscount of Avranchin.

The moth, relatively well preserved, is flanked by a low-yard to the west, the whole being girded with a rampart of earth. From the 19th century, it was studied and designed by Arcisse de Caumont, highlighting its archaeological interest. Ranked a historical monument in 1983, it now belongs to a state public institution. Its isolation in the forest and its state of conservation make it a rare testimony of the Norman castral architecture of the eleventh century.

The site, although protected, is not explicitly mentioned as open to the public. Its precise location, near the so-called "Le Vieux Château" on the town of Noues de Siena, is documented in the Mérimée and Monumentum bases. The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) emphasize its limited historical role in time, linked to the transition between wood fortifications and stone constructions, as well as the emergence of monastic power in the region under the influence of Richard Goz.

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