Château d'Amfreville, Fortified house in Amfreville, France.
Château d'Amfreville is a fortified manor house in Normandy marked by two circular towers flanking the main entrance, surrounded by a moat. The stone structure combines different building phases spanning medieval to modern times.
A primitive castle was founded here in the 11th century, in the era of William the Conqueror; in 1089 the lord of Amfreville was Richard de Reviers, founder of the nearby Montebourg Abbey. The present fortified house dates from the 14th and 15th centuries and was altered in the 16th and 18th centuries. The seigneurie became a barony by letters patent in January 1615 and was raised to a marquisate in 1686 for Charles-François Davy d'Amfreville, lieutenant-general of Louis XIV's armies.
The castle takes its name from the village of Amfreville and displays the characteristic Norman building style with heavy stonework and fortified design. Visitors can observe this defensive architecture in the towers and entrance gate details.
The property is reached via a long private driveway and surrounded by a natural moat that fills with water seasonally. Visitors should note that ground conditions can vary depending on weather and season.
The moat is not fed by a stream: it fills from the annual January–February floods of the surrounding Bauptois marsh, which the château borders. The entrance gate still keeps the grooves of an old drawbridge, replaced by a fixed bridge over the dry ditches.
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