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Origin and history

Concley Castle, located in the commune of Poil in the Nièvre department, was first mentioned in 1454 as a fief dominated by a castle. However, this existence is contested by the absence of archaeological traces and its omission on the map of Cassini in the eighteenth century. Only a reprise of the fief by the eccuyer Jean I de Chevannes in 1454 is attested by Jacques-François Baudieu in his geographical, topographical and historical essay of Morvand (1854).

The present chapel, erected in 1676 and rebuilt in the 18th century in a neo-Gothic style, houses a bell from the Cordeliers d'Autun convent, destroyed in the 16th century. She was blessed twice: in 1677 by the parish priest of Saint-Léger-sous-Beuvray, then in 1764 by Denis de Velle, canon of Autun. The present castle, built at the end of the eighteenth century by François de Champeaux, replaces an earlier building located in the east. It was thoroughly redesigned in the 19th century to adopt a medieval style, with granite walls and coated bellows.

Among the remarkable elements, a bas-relief of the chapel representing the Annunciation, attributed to the Della Robbia workshop (16th century), is included in the General Inventory of Cultural Heritage. Made of enamelled terracotta on wooden support, it measures 140 x 105 cm but has been in poor condition since 1992, with cracks and partial restorations of plaster and painted wood. The castle itself consists of a basement, a square floor and a floor of attices, served by two stairs (half outbuildings and screws), under a complex roof in flat and slate tiles.

Historical sources, notably the works of Roland Niaux (1994) and Jacques-François Baudiau (1854), highlight the uncertainties surrounding the origins of the castle before the 18th century. No archaeological excavation confirmed the existence of a building prior to the construction of François de Champeaux, despite the written records of 1454. The map of Cassini, drawn up in the 18th century, does not mention any castle on the site, reinforcing the hypothesis of a late construction.

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