Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Carel, located in Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives in Calvados, replaces a former medieval mansion surrounded by moat, mentioned in 1468. This first building, a successive property of the families of Hérouvel, Carel and Lesnérac, formed a fortified square with an inner courtyard, protected by the Dives River. The remains of these 10-metre-wide moat still remain today, bearing witness to its defensive past. The seigneury of Carel, evoked from the 15th century, is believed to have, according to an unverified tradition, links with Richard de Carel, allied with the Tancrède de Hauteville during the Norman conquest of the Deux-Siciles.

Acquired in 1646 by Noël Le Jeune, the fief was sold in 1670 to Jacques Charpentier, but the transaction was cancelled in 1680 for the benefit of his creditors, Georges de Motteville and Jean du Resnel. Their heirs, Bruno Emmanuel de Motteville and Charles Gabriel du Resnel, finally gave the estate in 1719 to two separate purchasers: the Countess of Rabodanges for the fief, and Charles Étienne Maynard for the non-nobliary lands. A withdrawal lineage in 1724 allowed the Mottevilles to recover the whole, before selling it to the Laillier brothers, who radically transformed the castle between 1724 and 1753.

François and Jean Laillier, new owners, modernized the castle according to the canons of Louis XIII and Louis XIV styles, adding a wing in 1753 for a work firm and communes to the south. The work includes parquet floors (1743) and a stair ramp (1746). The estate, estimated at 320,000 pounds in 1770, then moved to Nicolas Formage de Beauval, then to botanist Louis Alphonse de Brébisson in the 19th century. During the Second World War, the castle, occupied by a German headquarters, suffered damage (roofs, windows) due to nearby bombardments.

Ranked a historic monument in 1950 for its facades, roofs, moats and alleyways, the castle retains a characteristic architecture: high windows, Mansart roofs, and an artificial island formed by moats and Dives. Its park, planted with two-hundred-year-old linden trees, offers a classified perspective since 1967, despite the destruction caused by the 1999 storm. Today, still owned by the descendants of Baron Brunet, aide de camp of Napoleon III, the castle embodies the seigneurial and architectural heritage of Normandy.

The ensemble consists of a body of houses flanked by two wings, commons, a farm and a dovecote, all organized around a court of honor accessible by a stone bridge crossing a ha-ha. The interiors retain remarkable elements such as the staircase and three fireplaces protected since 2000. The estate, open to the public in summer, offers guided tours highlighting its history and architecture, as well as its landscaped park restored after the storms.

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