Castle of the Hillock of Ambrières

The Château of the Hillock is in the north of the commune of Ambrières-the-Valleys, in the Mayenne.

It is located at a few hundred meters of the minor road which connects Ambrières to the Pas, the castle of the Hillock niche very close to the Varenne, under foliations of trees centenaries. This castle, or rather this “ country house ” has a history: II was drawn by Eugene Purple-the-Duke, a very famous architect of the 19th century.

Eugene Purple-the-Duke, inspector of the monuments Diocesan S, had come to Laval in 1855 to inspect at the same time the cathedral and the sites chosen for évêché and the seminar. He meets Mgr Wickart there. Is this on this occasion which it met Mr. Griois (or Grivis) or at the time of later stays? This Mr Griois (or Grivis: the two orthographies exist with the Files), bought the field of the Hillock in 1856, made there build a house on the taillère the Largeone, ground included/understood in the small estate of the Hillock on 9 ares 20 Ca On the same ground, in 1872, the Departmental records note the construction of a castle, that due to Purple-The-Duke.

Purple-The-duke drew it but entrusted the realization to his son-in-law, Maurice Ouradou. Purple-The-duke had observed the places: the Game preserve which runs with the foot, the access path to 120° compared to the river. It is around this axis that the castle is imagined. While entering the superb hall supported by granite columns, one can see all the parts. Originality: the chimney was under the window of the study and the conduits on each side. Realized out of red brick (covered today with a coating) and out of granite, the “country house” was seen associating later a turret which weighed down the masonry enormously. But to tell the truth, the restoration undertaken during the acquisition of the Hillock by the Ministry for Justice in 1966, more contributed to unbalance construction. The Hillock remains an unknown monument to the public.

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