Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Rochebeaucourt, located on horseback in the communes of Combiers and Édon (Charente), finds its origins in the ninth century with a square tower built by the Villebois to monitor the feudal Angoulême-Perigueux road. In the 13th century, a second castle was erected by the Rochebeaucourt, before being taken back to the English during the Hundred Years' War (1349-1372). Transformed during the Renaissance, François de La Rochebeaucourt even welcomed King Charles IX in 1565, while sling windows and orangery were added.

In the 19th century, the castle was completely rebuilt in a neo-Renaissance style by Louis-Hector de Galard de Béarn, senator of the Empire, between 1853 and 1859. The architect Pierre-Charles Dusillion and the entrepreneur Nicolas direct the works, but a trial for malice then broke out. The landscape park, created at the Restoration, includes a neo-classical triumphal arch (1840) dedicated to Pauline de Tourzel, wife of Marquis Alexandre de Béarn and former companion of the children of Louis XVI. The Galard de Béarn retained the estate until 1892.

The castle, requisitioned by the Germans during World War II, was destroyed by an accidental fire on February 5, 1941. Today only the L-shaped basements, the remains of gardens (fontaines, basins, orangery), and the triumphal arch remain. In 2021, the nine-hectare park was transferred to the town of Combiers for a reopening to the public, a first since the seventeenth century. The ruins, classified as Historic Monument in 1990, remind of its long history.

Orangery, surrounded by pipes and basins, and the English park bordered by a cliff pierced by caves, testify to the landscape ambition of the 19th century. The plans of 1861 for landscaped gardens, designed by Rousseau de Bordeaux, were never realized. The site, marked by sculptures from the late 16th century and a remarkable staircase, remains one of the most imposing castral remains of Charente.

The family of Tourzel, linked to the court of Louis XVI, marked the history of the castle: Pauline de Tourzel, daughter of the governess of the royal children, lived there until her death in 1839. Her husband, Alexandre de Béarn, dedicated him to triumph, covered with inscriptions celebrating his memory. The current remains, including the green driveway planted in 1826, offer an overview of this area that blended Renaissance architecture and landscaped romanticism.

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