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Origin and history

The Château du Bois Cuillé, located in Cuillé in the department of Mayenne, was a major 17th century building. It consisted of a 142-foot-long building body flanked by a wing to the east and a chapel to the west. Its park, depicted on the map of Cassini, was divided between gardens and woods, surrounded by walls. The seigneury, vassal of the Barony of Pouancé, had ecclesiastical rights, such as the presentation of the benefits of Lourzay and Bizé, transferred to the castle in 1705.

The Cuillé seigneury, originally linked to the Guesclin family in the 15th century, was then owned by the Vachereau and later the Farcy. In 1674, the land was estimated at 9,000 pounds of income, and in 1703 it was worth 100,000 pounds at the time of inheritance. The castle housed religious events, such as the Protestant baptism of a son of Charles de Farcy in 1671, celebrated by Minister Demay.

During the French Revolution, the castle was looted and burned by rioters from Bais and Gennes-sur-Seiche, in retaliation against the aristocratic attitude of the inhabitants of Cuillé. Jacques Gabriel Annibal de Farcy, lord of the place and president of the primary assembly of Cuillé, had to flee to Rennes after the violence. Despite a certificate of patriotism issued by the municipality, he was again threatened in 1792 by revolutionaries demanding equality. The chapel, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, had been blessed in 1723.

Today, nothing remains of the old castle, replaced by a bourgeois dwelling. The archives mention its past importance, especially through the titles of the Cuillé factory and parish registers, which attest to its central role in local and religious life.

The map of Cassini shows a rectangular park, partly wooded, typical of the seigneurial estates of the time. The remains of this spatial organization have disappeared, but historical descriptions allow us to imagine the extent of the domain, symbol of the power of the Farcy before its destruction.

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