Château de l'Ardoise, Historical castle in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, France

The Château de l'Ardoise is a country estate in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin located southwest of the town center, positioned near the Loire River. The property sits between Tortue Street and Ardoise Street, with a wrought iron gate marking the entrance to the grounds.

The current structure replaced a 16th-century fortification that featured a round tower 16 meters in diameter used to monitor traffic on the road between Meung-sur-Loire and Orleans. The property changed ownership following the French Revolution when it was transferred from church holdings to other proprietors.

The name L'Ardoise, slate, is recalled by the wrought-iron gate inscription at the entrance on route départementale 2152. In 1790 the property was recorded as the canonry of L'Ardoise, a country house with vintner's buildings, a press, stable, dovecote and a walled vineyard of about nine arpents. Louis-Sextius Jarente de La Bruyère, bishop of Orléans from 1758 to 1788, resided here.

The entrance gate bearing the inscription L'Ardoise stands on route départementale 2152; a long tree-lined avenue leads from it to the building, which trees of the park partly hide. A wall runs along the east, north and south sides of the grounds. The north front is reached by a wide staircase onto a perron, the south side by a double straight staircase.

The archaeological site listed at l'Ardoise in the local urban plan is a medieval village, not an ancient settlement. Ernest Pillon, who bought parcels around the estate from 1842, was an archaeologist and the discoverer of the Béraire dragon cave. He found part of the foundations of the old round tower, 16 metres in diameter, which guarded the Meung-sur-Loire to Orléans road.