LUXURIOUS 11TH CENTURY CHATEAU IN THE HEART OF BRITTANY

Offering color for all seasons, its boasts a rosary of some 360 David Austin English Roses that flower from May to November, a Mediterranean garden, arboretum , bamboo copse and herbaceous borders decorating the English formal lawns. Paths and streams meander through the woodland gardens with surprises and vistas around every corner, leading to an Asian themed island and lake to which trout return every year.. The main lake linked as it is with the River Vilaine is a haven for local wildlife, included, kingfishers, herons, ducks and even coypu. The Garden is under constant development and this year has seen the addition of an aromatic garden, Clematis walk and the beginnings of a wildflower meadow.

The garden has attracted visitors from all over the world, many comparing its beauty to that of Monet’s garden near Paris, and remains open to the public at various times of the year.

The building steeped in history with 11th century origins has been modified through the ages by successive noble families. Standing as it does on the crossroads and only two hundred metres from the bridge over the Vilaine river, it has always been of strategic importance. None more so than in the Second World War when it was the centre of the local French resistance under the leadership of Marie Moquet, whose family owned the estate for some 150 years.

She used the house as a safe-haven, open night and day for Resistance fighters and escaping Allied pilots. In August 1944, the local Resistance were guarding the bridge, when a German column flying American colors and seeking to escape the allies, ambushed and murdered them. Indeed, the then Gardener of 'Le Manoir', Celestin Poulain was shot against the garden wall and remains buried there today.

There is now a memorial outside the front of the house to those brave young men who died. Marie Moquet was decorated after the war by both the French and General Eisenhower for the Americans, for her bravery and assistance in the escape of many allied airmen.

Keywords: Chateau