Château des Arcis, Castle in Meslay-du-Maine, Mayenne, France

Château des Arcis stands in Meslay-du-Maine, its two joined ranges of brown stone facing a wide courtyard. The taller right-hand range rises to a steep grey slate roof with dormer windows, a tall chimney and a small lantern turret at the corner; the lower left-hand range has its own slate roof, dormers and two brick chimneys. Low trimmed shrubs and flowering plants line the base.

The castle is mentioned from the 14th century, when Robert Le Vexel shared it with his sister Perronnelle, wife of Macé Courtin. Through their granddaughter Marie Nepveu it passed to the de Cervon family, who held it until the 18th century. Charles de Cervon added tree-lined avenues and built the Saint-Sébastien chapel in the early 17th century. In the late 19th century Louis Garnier directed alterations for the Raguenet de Saint-Albin family, owners until 2003. It has been a listed monument since 28 February 2006.

The chapel in the entrance pavilion, a vaulted room with ribbed vaulting converted into a domestic chapel in the 19th century, holds 16th-century woodwork said to come from the church of Préaux. Charles de Cervon built a Chapel of Saint-Sébastien north of the castle, consecrated on 25 September 1615 by Charles de Beaumanoir before the local nobility; a papal bull of 2 June 1612 granted a plenary indulgence to visitors on Saint Sebastian's day.

The castle stands in the Meslay-du-Maine countryside, reached by road from the town; the entrance court is bordered on two sides by the main building and the outbuildings, with the moats fed by the Laurière and Arsis streams. The site is private property, so visits depend on the owners' arrangements.

The isolated pavilion at the courtyard entrance, built in the 15th or 16th century, has a ground-floor vaulted room with ribbed arches that was converted into a domestic chapel in the 19th century. It holds 16th-century woodwork said to come from the church of Préaux.