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Base Mérimée: Monuments historiques · France

Ancienne prison

Tinchebray, Orne, France

The record

Designation
Historic monument, registered (inscrit)
Protection
inscrit MH
Extent of protection
Prison (ancienne) (cad. AC 377) : inscription par arrêté du 13 décembre 1978
Protection dates
1978/12/13 : inscrit MH
Type
prison
Main period of construction
1er quart 17e siècle
Dates
1625
Ownership
propriété de la commune
Address
rue de la Paix
Commune
Tinchebray
Département
Orne
Region
Normandie
Country
France
Coordinates
48.76457, -0.72919
Mérimée reference
PA00110959

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

5 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1750 map "Composite 4: Carte de France." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

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This record on the Ministère de la Culture's POP platform ↗

The Ministère de la Culture's notice

La prison fut construite entre 1611 et 1625 pour remplacer une prison plus ancienne. Elle obéit aux traditions en usage dans le duché de Normandie, pendant tout le Moyen-Age. Elle est construite conjointement avec un auditoire, ce qui permettait de juger les détenus sans les faire sortir du bâtiment. Cet auditoire était placé au-dessus de la halle ou "cohue", lieu obligé de réunion de la population, où se "criaient" les sentences. Il s'agit d'un grand bâtiment rectangulaire à un étage, divisé en trois parties. Au sud, au rez-de-chaussée, la halle ; à l'étage un auditoire. Au centre, un escalier de bois qui n'est pas d'origine. Au nord, les geôles sont distribuées par un couloir ouvrant de l'autre côté sur la chapelle. Chaque geôle possède une latrine. Les geôles du rez-de-chaussée servaient de logement au garde-champêtre.

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

The prison was constructed between 1611 and 1625 to replace an older prison. It conforms to the traditions in use in the duchy of Normandy throughout the Middle Ages. It is constructed jointly with a courtroom, which allowed prisoners to be judged without being taken out of the building. This courtroom was placed above the hall or "cohue", the obligatory place of assembly of the population, where sentences were "cried out". It is a large rectangular building with one storey, divided into three parts. To the south, on the ground floor, the hall; on the upper floor a courtroom. At the centre, a wooden staircase which is not original. To the north, the cells are distributed by a corridor opening on the other side onto the chapel. Each cell possesses a latrine. The cells on the ground floor served as lodging for the field guard.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Base Mérimée, Ministère de la Culture, data last updated 2026-09-17, reused under the Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab). Record text is reproduced unchanged. Ministère de la Culture · Licence Ouverte 2.0
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