Manoir de Graffard, manoir à Barneville-Carteret (Manche)
The Manoir de Graffard is a manor house in Barneville-Carteret built between 1574 and 1575 with thick stone walls, small windows, and a large central staircase that was unusual for its time. The estate includes outbuildings, surrounding walls, cellar vaults with rib patterns, and remains of earlier structures that show how the property developed over centuries.
The original holding dates to the late 1100s under the Graffart family, but English forces took control in 1360 during the Hundred Years War and used it as a strategic point to oversee trade with Jersey. The main building visible today was constructed in 1574-1575 by the Pitteboult family during the wars of religion, replacing earlier defensive structures.
The manor takes its name from the founding family and sits in a location that connected it to maritime trade through the nearby port of Carteret. The stone walls and carved family emblems visible throughout the estate reveal how this place once reflected the social standing and commercial interests of the noble families who lived here.
The manor sits about one kilometer northeast of the Saint-Germain church in Barneville-sur-Mer near an old road that once connected Barneville to Bricquebec. Because portions of the site are damaged and in ruins, visitors should move carefully when exploring the decaying structures, walls, and outbuildings that make up the protected estate.
A stone marker carved with the family crest and the date 1744 remains in the courtyard, and near the main house sits an old cannon from the 1500s bearing the salamander symbol of King Francis I. This rare surviving weapon reveals the estate's military role and the royal connections that protected it during the Renaissance.
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