Manoir de Keroual: A Renaissance Manor in Guilers, France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page7 sections
History
Manoir de Keroual is a sixteenth-century Renaissance manor in France, located in the Bois de Keroual at Guilers in Finistère, Brittany. It was built as a residence for the Penancoët family, the counts of Keroual, and is a notable example of Renaissance architecture in the Léon region.
The Penancoët Residence
The name of the manor appears in several historical forms. It was written as Kerrouazle and Kerroazle in 1544, Keroüazle in 1667, Querouasle in 1669, Keroualle in 1701 and 1735, Keroual in 1738 and 1800, and Kéroual in 1946. The Breton element “Ker” means a town, village, or hamlet.
Louise de Keroual, born at the manor in 1649, was its most famous owner and continued to stay there. At the instigation of Louis XIV, the Bourbon king of France, she was brought to the court of London in 1670. She became a secret agent for the French king and the favorite of Charles II, the Stuart king of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Louise and Charles II had a son, Charles Lennox. After suffering financial reverses, she relinquished the manor in 1716.
Later Ownership and Wartime Destruction
The property then passed through several owners. It was acquired by the Marquis du Chatel and Monsieur Crozat before being sold as Crown property during the French Revolution. It later belonged to the Borgnis-Desbordes family, their daughter Madame Legros, and their granddaughter. Nicolas-Hippolyte de Kersauzon de Pennendreff, a notary in Brest who served as mayor of Guilers from 1874 to 1886, subsequently owned it. After his death, Admiral Didelot, the maritime prefect of Brest, purchased the manor, which remained with the Didelot family.
Following the German invasion in September 1940, German forces requisitioned Keroual, initially using it to house troops. During the siege of Brest in 1944, General Ramcke used the manor as a refuge. The building was deliberately set on fire that year and remained a ruin until the twentieth-century restoration.
Restoration and Present Use
In 1967, the Brest architect Albert Cortellari purchased the ruined manor and began its restoration. The city of Brest acquired the property in 1982. By then, the two entrance pavilions had been restored, while only part of the residential body had been reconstructed.
Manoir de Keroual belongs to the City of Brest and now serves an artistic function that includes artistic creation and residencies. It has hosted the electronic music festival Astropolis since 2002. The manor is not currently classified as a historical monument.
Remains
The surviving complex combines a Renaissance residential body, an adjoining wing, two entrance pavilions, garden structures, and elements recalling an earlier defensive role. Granite and Logonna and Kersanton stone, all characteristic of Brittany, form the principal building materials.
Residential Buildings
The principal residential body is joined to a wing that ends in one of the two pavilions marking the entrance to the property. Its design combines Renaissance features with lingering Gothic influence. Doric columns and pediments express the period’s interest in forms inspired by classical antiquity, while a Gothic dormer remains visible beside the round tower. The principal facade has a classical character.
After the 1944 fire, the residential body was only partly renovated. The reconstructed section remains roofless, and half of the original volume is habitable. The two entrance pavilions have been restored.
Garden and Defensive Features
A dovecote, a structure for housing pigeons, forms one end of the garden. A round tower rises to the left of the manor and indicates that the complex originally had a defensive character. Within the enclosure, a well has an antique-inspired design with Roman Doric columns.
Nearby sites
