Logis de Nanteuil

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

History

The fief of Nanteuil was under the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Angoulême. Some elements attest to the medieval origins of the château (barrel-vaulted lower hall, pointed arch openings of the north elevation...). The first building, whose origin could date back to the 14th century, occupied the western part, corresponding to the vaulted hall. Its enlargement towards the east could date from the late 16th or early 17th century (erection of fantasy crenellation on the dwelling to conceal the two roofs). The entrance to the property is set within a boundary wall reconstructed in the 19th century, flanked by two low round towers and crowned with a crenellated parapet on machicolation corbels. A building now disappeared was set against the south tower and would have housed a chapel. At the north-east angle of the curtain wall is set against a building for use as outbuildings. Its south façade has the remains of a Gothic window tracery which could come from the old chapel. The inner courtyard is adorned with a circular stone basin. To the south stands a cylindrical dovecot. At the back of the courtyard, the main dwelling is a rectangular building, flanked to the north-west by a rectangular tower and, to the south-west, by a smaller tower. It runs to the west along a terrace surrounded by a small wall in which is set the base of a round tower. The whole, except the north-west tower, is crowned with crenellation with square merlons, added in the 16th-17th century. The eastern elevation is pierced with mullioned windows resulting from the major building campaign carried out in the 19th century. The south elevation is flanked, at the west angle, by a rectangular tower interrupted at two-thirds of the curtain wall and terminated by a pyramidal roof forming a glacis. Its eastern angle is formed by a false bretèche on machicolation corbels and a gargoyle. The western elevation presents a staircase with two converging straight flights which leads to the entrance door. A very projecting rectangular tower flanks it at its north-west angle. Its south face is adorned with a row of machicolations with trilobed lintel, surmounted by a cornice and crenellated parapet. Its north face is decorated, in the upper part, with trilobes and three sculptured heads. The interior of the main dwelling was refitted in the 19th century.