Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

Vaugeois Castle, located in Saint-Ouen-le-Brisoult in Orne, also extends over the neighbouring communes of Neuilly-le-Vendin and Madré (Mayenne). Crossed by the Mayenne River, it was before 1510, with Henry IV pavilions added at the end of the 16th century. In the 18th century, major renovations used the slates of his career, while the walls were cut down. The house, destroyed and rebuilt in the 19th century, incorporates a brick and stone tower before 1900.

During the Revolution, the castle has two parallel courtyards: the courtyard of honour, dominated by the house and framed by buildings with chapel and stables, and the lower courtyard, including a tidal barn and a dovecote. The riots of 1789 saw the peasants burning the cartrier and looting the reserves, forcing the Montreuil family to flee. The estate, sold after 1864, was taken over at the end of the 19th century by Auguste Brölemann and acquired in 1958 by Geoffroy Frotier de Bagneux.

The seigneury of Vaugeois, attested from the 15th century, passed by inheritance until Françoise de Mondot, who married Michel de Montreuil in 1585. The latter, governor of Cherbourg, erected the Henry IV pavilions. Their descendants, including the Countess of La Chaux (author of the Manuscripts of La Chaux), kept the estate until the Revolution. After 1818, it fell to the families of Broglie and Berghes before being sold to farmers.

A remarkable peduncle oak, with a circumference of more than five meters, adorns the estate. The Manuscripts of La Chaux and the works of historian Alfred Lemaitre (1911) document his history, while local memoirs and archives (Orne Departmental Archives) complete the sources.

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