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Origin and history

The Vaujoyeux dovecote, located 500 metres west of the centre of Planguenoual (Côtes-d'Armor), is a rare quadrulobe building, composed of a central dovecote surrounded by four absidiole towers. Each tower is covered with a cul-de-four, and the whole is built of granite, shale, sandstone and puddingue. Its architecture is distinguished by an alternating sandstone and granite beds, with 1,060 bolt holes aligned to separate blocks. This dovecote, the only vestige of the Vaujoyeux mansion, is represented on the cadastral plans of 1811 and 1846, attesting to its local historic importance.

The first mention of the dovecote dates back to 1510, in an act of sale, clearly linking it to the mansion of Vaujoyeux. In the 19th century, several neighbouring dovecotes still shared a similar architecture, but in the 20th century, Vaujoyeux became the only surviving example of this type. Ranked a historic monument on December 29, 1982 (after an additional inventory entry in 1932), it was restored between 1982 and 1985. Its quadrilobic plan and vaulting make it a remarkable architectural testimony of the Breton Renaissance, linked to the local seigneury and seigneurial privileges, including the right to dovecote.

The dovecote also illustrates the construction techniques of the era, with local materials such as the puddingue and defensive or symbolic elements, such as pile-loaded plates protecting towers. Its hip roof and leafy door reflect sophisticated craftsmanship. Although the manor has disappeared, this dovecote remains a marker of the Breton rural heritage, associated with the ornithology and agrarian history of the region, where the dovecotes were symbols of power and wealth for the lords.

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