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Origin and history

The Tillac Clock Tower is a medieval gate tower located at the south-west end of the village, marking the main entrance of the former fortified enclosure. On a square plane (5.60 m side), it is kept on four levels, with a medium sandstone structure for the external and lateral faces, while the inner face, on the village side, is made of torchi-filled wood pan-de-bois, with a roof covered with hollow tiles. The access door, in a chamfered broken arch, was once protected by a harrow and vantals, of which today only the grooves and holes remain. The upper floors have defensive openings: a second-level crossbow and bays on the third and fourth floors.

The village of Tillac was surrounded by a rampart whose gate tower and a square tower (the dungeon) are the only remains. The Clock Tower, also known as the Rabastens Tower, probably dates from the second half of the 13th century, as indicated by its apparatus and the style of its door. Originally, it was connected to a courtine (mural) which is now extinct, and its city-side facade, in a wood pan, contrasted with the masonry walls on the other three sides. The crenelage and the last floor have been demolished, but the tower retains characteristic defensive elements, such as the axial killer of the first floor, designed to protect the entrance.

Since 1925, the tower has belonged to the town of Tillac. Its architecture reflects the rural fortification techniques of the late Middle Ages, mixing stone and wood, and reflects the strategic importance of the border villages in Gers, an area marked by the conflicts between the kingdoms of France and England during the Hundred Years War. Today, it is a rare example of a fortified gate in this area, although its conservation status and exact location remain approximate (estimated at 6/10).

The southwest gate tower played a key role in defending the village, controlling the main access. Its name "the clock tower" suggests that it may have a clock mechanism, although there is no evidence to confirm it in available sources. The eastern tower, called dungeon, located inside the walls, completed this defensive device, although its ties to the courtine disappeared. The materials used — local sandstone and torchi — illustrate the resources available in Gers in the 14th–15th century, where the stone was reserved for the faces exposed to attacks, while the less expensive wood was used for the internal parts.

The inscription in the Historical Monuments in 1925 preserved this vestige, although elements such as crenelage or closure systems were lost. The Tillac Tower is part of a network of village fortifications typical of medieval Occitanie, where small communities protected themselves from looting and troops on the march. Its square plan and its narrow openings recall the watchtowers of nearby bastides, although Tillac is not a bastide strictly speaking. The hollow tiles used for roofing evoke constructive Romanesque traditions, still in use at the end of the Middle Ages in southwestern France.

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