Manoir Tronjoly, Manor house in Cléder, France.
Manoir Tronjoly is a three-winged manor house northwest of Cléder, its light grey stone wings enclosing a courtyard open to the south-east. The east wing, begun in 1535, has mullioned windows with accolade lintels, a corner turret and a stone corbelled projection; the north wing is the two-storey logis, and the west wing of 1684 once held the stables. A square tower with a steep roof stands in the angle of the north and east wings, and a circular granite basin sits in the middle of the courtyard.
A first fortified house on the site is documented in 1390, owned by Guyon de Kergoët. Christophe de Kergoët began the present manor in 1534, starting with the east wing; the north wing and west wing followed in the 17th century. In 1883 the estate passed by marriage to the Hervé du Penhoat family, and it remains private, now owned by the Sagazan family.
The name Tronjoly comes from the Breton Traonjoliff, "the beautiful valley". Christophe de Kergoët's motto S'il plaît à Dieu and the family arms still appear on the building, and the alliance arms of Olivier de Kergoët and Marie du Louet, lords of Tronjoly in 1580, are carved over the east wing's entrance door.
The park and the 19th-century chapel are open to visitors free of charge all year. The interior can only be seen on a guided tour held on one day each in July and August. Access from the south follows an oak avenue about 180 metres long; the dovecote stands in a field roughly halfway along it, east of the lane.
The granite basin in the courtyard copies Italian models, but the carved stone tablet set into the flattened ground-floor corner of the square tower is easy to miss. It bears an inscription urging passers-by not to delay hearing Mass, not to grow poor by giving alms, and not to grow rich at others' expense.
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