Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne)
Castle
Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne), located in La Capelle-lès-Boulogne (Pas-de-Calais), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Castle
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- La Capelle-lès-Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 50.7348, 1.7009
- Mérimée Reference
- PA62000065
A discreet jewel in the Boulonnais region, Château de Conteval combines the elegance of 18th-century brick and stone with unusual English courtyards and amphitheatre landscaped grounds designed by a genius botanist.
History
Nestling between La Capelle-lès-Boulogne and Pernes-lès-Boulogne, in a corner of the Pas-de-Calais region that people drive through without ever stopping, Château de Conteval stands out as one of those exceptional residences that are better protected by discretion than any fortress. Built in the last quarter of the 18th century, it embodies the enlightened sensibility of an era that sought to reconcile learned architecture with an intimate dialogue with nature. What immediately sets Conteval apart from its regional counterparts are the two English courtyards carved into the side elevations - a rare feature in the Boulonnais region, borrowed from British domestic architecture of the Georgian period. These masonry ditches, which bring light and ventilation to the lower levels without disrupting the horizontal line of the facade, give the residence a sophistication that is resolutely oriented towards England, whose coastline is only a few leagues away. The château overlooks amphitheatre-shaped landscaped grounds, a plant composition of rare intelligence in which the natural topography of the land is used to enhance the view, opening up views of the surrounding countryside. This verdant setting, probably designed by the botanist and agronomist Georges-Louis-Marie Dumont de Courset, an erudite owner and leading figure in French horticulture, was completed at the end of the 19th century by a vast English-style park and a large, structured kitchen garden, the work of landscape gardener Eugène Houlet. To visit Conteval is to stroll on the edge of two centuries, between the leafy alleys inherited from the Enlightenment and the more romantic plant compositions of the 19th century. A stroll through the park offers changing perspectives on the residence, revealing its brick and rendered stone elevations, its measured proportions and its serene place in the Boulonnais landscape. A listed monument since 2006, its value lies as much in its architecture as in the exceptional ensemble it forms with its gardens.
Architecture
Château de Conteval is in the tradition of late 18th-century manor houses, characterised by a sober neoclassical vocabulary that reflects the prevailing taste of the reign of Louis XVI. Built in brick and rendered stone - a typical combination in the north of France, which tempers the austerity of the regional brick with the whiteness of the limestone - the building's elevations are balanced and measured, without ostentation, where the rigour of the horizontal lines dialogues with the discreet verticality of the small-wooded openings. The most remarkable feature of the residence is the two English courtyards on the side elevations. Borrowed from British domestic architecture of the period - the 'ha-ha' or English ditches found in large Georgian houses - these features allow the lower levels (cellars, kitchens, pantries) to be lit and aired while preserving the ground level of the façade, without interrupting the visual continuity between the building and the park. This technical and aesthetic solution is extremely rare in the Boulonnais region, and gives Conteval its atypical character, clearly indebted to cross-Channel influences. The château is part of a landscape designed as a whole: set at the highest point of a gentle slope, it overlooks parkland designed as an amphitheatre, with successive tiers of vegetation guiding the eye towards the open countryside. This staging, which makes the château the focal point of a carefully orchestrated natural tableau, is the sign of a certain mastery of the principles of the English picturesque garden, of which Dumont de Courset was one of the enlightened propagators in the north of France.
Related Figures
Georges-Louis-Marie Dumont de Courset (1746-1824) — botaniste et agronome boulonnais, auteur du 'Botaniste cultivateur', probable concepteur du parc paysager en amphithéâtreEugène Houlet — paysagiste de la fin du XIXe siècle, auteur de l'extension du parc à l'anglaise et du grand potagerPropriétaires bâtisseurs anonymes du dernier quart du XVIIIe siècle — commanditaires de la demeure, probablement issus de la noblesse ou de la haute bourgeoisie boulonnaise
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) located?
Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) is located in La Capelle-lès-Boulogne, Pas-de-Calais department, Hauts-de-France region, France.
When was Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) built?
Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) open to visitors?
Château de Conteval (également sur commune de Pernes-lès-Boulogne) is currently closed to visitors.