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Origin and history

The castle of La Roche-Guéhennec, also known as the Manor of La Roche, is a medieval fortress built between the 13th and 15th centuries on the ancient commune of Mûr-de-Bretagne (now Guerlédan, Côtes-d'Armor). Coming from the dismemberment of the seigneury of Mûr in the 12th century, it became the seat of a fief with high and low justice, controlling the valley of Poulancre. Reconstructed at the beginning of the 15th century and modified after the siege of 1655, it retains defensive elements and a seigneurial room of exceptional dimensions (128 m2), characteristic of the first Breton manors.

Founded by the Viscounts of Poher, the castle passed into the hands of noble Breton families, including the Fou (from 1377), the Kerveno, and then the Bourbon-Malauze. In 1655 he was besieged by Monsieur du Roscouët, causing one death and four injuries. In the 17th century, the Rançonnet, Counts of Noyan, added a pavilion and consolidated the seigneury, which retained the right to impose capital punishments (one convicted was executed in Rennes in 1782). The Revolution dispersed its lands, bought in 1815 by Luc François Le Cerf.

The architecture combines granite and shale, with a polygonal tower housing a staircase in the screw of Saint Gilles, graffiti dated (1614–1701), and a monumental fireplace typical of Breton manors before 1430. The large hall, with oak soles dated by dendrochronology (1429–1449), impresses with its proportions (16 m long, 8 m wide, 5 m high), far exceeding the standards of the time. The site also includes stables, barn, and a defensive judas 3 meters high.

In the 19th century, the castle echoed the Euzenu de Kersalaün, then the Guillo-Lohan and Collin de la Bellière. Today owned by the Colon de Franciosi family, it is in restoration and hosts cultural events, such as the annual feast-noz of the first Saturday of August and the Sons festival in Brittany. Its judicial history, its tumultuous lords (like Hervé du Fou, who died in 1655), and its role in the Breton nobility make it a key witness to the local feudal heritage.

The archives mention his seigneurial court, able to condemn to death, and his connection with the seigneury of Launay-Mûr, whose remains he now eclipses. Parish registers and notarial acts (such as the sale of 1377 for 100 gold francs) document its evolution, from Poher's Viscounts to the Rançonnet, through the matrimonial alliances that sealed its destiny. The dendrochronology and the coats of arms carved on the solives confirm its medieval origin, between 1250 and 1350.

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