Manoir du Colombier
ManorHidden Treasure
Manoir du Colombier, located in Hénon (Département 22), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Hénon, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4004, -2.6778
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089201
Niché dans le bocage costarmoricain, le Manoir du Colombier d'Hénon déploie l'élégance sobre de l'architecture bretonne des XVIe-XVIIe siècles, avec son corps de logis en granite et ses communs témoignant d'une vie seigneuriale préservée.
History
In the heart of the Côtes-d'Armor region, in the quiet market town of Hénon, the Manoir du Colombier stands out as one of those discreet jewels jealously guarded by the Breton countryside. Far from the hustle and bustle of signposted tourist routes, it offers those who take the trouble to stop off for an intimate dialogue with several centuries of rural and seigneurial history. What sets Le Colombier apart from many other manor houses in the region is precisely the coherence of its ensemble: the main dwelling, the farm outbuildings and the eponymous dovecote form a harmonious whole, in the manner of the noble estates that still structured the Breton landscape at the time of the Wars of the League. The carefully-cut grey granite stone contrasts with the old joints and mosses that colonise the lower courses, giving the whole a patina of authenticity that no artifice can imitate. The visit is above all a sensory experience: the crunch of gravel in the enclosed courtyard, the verticality of the dovecote that breaks the horizontal line of the roofs, and the silence that is typical of manor houses inhabited by centuries of seigneurial daily life. Lovers of Breton civil architecture will recognise the characteristic 16th-century mullioned windows, cross-hipped dormers and sculpted chimney stacks that bear witness to remarkably consistent local craftsmanship. The hedged farmland adds to the charm of the setting. The embankments planted with oak and beech trees, the grassy areas surrounding the walls, the sunken path leading to the gateway: all these features help to preserve the impression of a discovery out of time, which is the irreplaceable value of Breton manor houses listed as Historic Monuments.
Architecture
Manoir du Colombier faithfully illustrates the canons of Breton manorial architecture as it developed between the end of the Gothic period and the first inflections of the Renaissance in the Armorican countryside. The main dwelling, built of local granite, has a simple rectangular, two-storey plan covered by a steeply pitched roof of Anjou or local slate - the universal roofing material used in Brittany since the Middle Ages. The openings, with their moulded frames, bear witness to the transition from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century: the mullioned and transomed windows of the original dwelling stand alongside wider bays added during later building campaigns. The most emblematic feature of the estate is undoubtedly the dovecote, a cylindrical or square granite tower whose silhouette dominates all the outbuildings. Built in accordance with Breton custom, it must have housed several hundred boulins (pigeon houses), providing the lord with a source of manure for his land and a significant food supplement. The outbuildings, lined up around an enclosed or semi-enclosed courtyard, include stables, barns and servants' quarters, forming the enclosed courtyard so characteristic of the manor houses of inland Armorica. Sober but meticulous sculptural detailing - dormer brackets, finely-cut chimney bases, segmental arch lintels - define the character of the building: quality architecture, sensitive to fashion but firmly rooted in a local building tradition that always favours solidity and functionality over decorative ostentation.
Related Figures
Famille seigneuriale fondatrice (XVIe siècle) — noble local ayant initié la construction du manoir et obtenu le droit de colombierPropriétaire du XVIIe siècle — commanditaire probable des agrandissements et de la consolidation du domainePropriétaires révolutionnaires (fin XVIIIe siècle) — acquéreurs bourgeois ou paysans du bien lors des ventes nationales ou successions post-révolutionnairesFamilles paysannes du XIXe siècle — gardiens anonymes de l'intégrité du bâti à travers les mutations du monde rural bretonPropriétaires actuels — artisans de la demande d'inscription et du dossier aboutissant à la protection de 2020
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Manoir du Colombier located?
Manoir du Colombier is located in Hénon, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Manoir du Colombier built?
Manoir du Colombier dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Manoir du Colombier open to visitors?
Manoir du Colombier is currently closed to visitors.
