Manoir d'Inthéville, Fortified manor house in Fermanville, France
The Manoir d'Inthéville is a manor house in Fermanville with fortified walls, watchtowers, and a rectangular courtyard surrounded by auxiliary buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble displays thick stone structures and a layout designed for both residence and protection.
The current main building was erected in the late 15th or early 16th century for the Pirou family, lords of Fermanville since the early 14th century. It probably replaced an older seigneurial site whose only survivor is the 12th-century chapel of Saint-Étienne and Sainte-Madeleine. In 1643 Pierre Davy, first Marquis of Amfreville, closed the courtyard on three sides with farm buildings; the main facade was reorganised in the 19th century.
The chapel of Sainte-Madeleine, attached to the north side of the manor, is the only surviving part of the earlier castle: it dates from the 12th century and mixes Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance elements, with an ogival window. In 1739 the marriage of Anne Davy was celebrated here; during the Revolution the national guards of Saint-Pierre-Église ransacked it, and in the First World War garrison troops damaged its baroque altar.
The manor sits about one kilometer northeast of Saint-Martin Church and is best reached on foot from the village center. As a protected private property, it is wise to check visiting arrangements beforehand.
The manor's vast cellars are said to have been the outlet of a tunnel leading to the château of Saint-Pierre-Église. The claim is recorded as a local tradition rather than a verified passage, and no excavation has confirmed it.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,491 contributors worldwide.