The Château de Guernon-Ranville (Castle of Guernon-Ranville) is located in the hamlet of Le Bas de Ranville in the commune of Ranville, in the Calvados department of Normandy in Northwestern France.
This private 18th-century domain carries the name of the family who were for a long period of time the proprietors of the château. It was once the home of a 19th-century minister, later the holiday resort of art patrons at the beginning of the 20th century as well as eventually a field hospital during the Allied landings in Normandy in 1944. The château now offers upscale self-catering holiday homes.
History The actual date of construction of the Château de Guernon-Ranville is not known. However, taking into account the architectural style of the château and notably the harmony of its facade,Propos de M. Philippe Lenglart (historien et co-auteur de l'ouvrage intitulé Patrimoine des communes du Calvados) lors de la visite du château dans le cadre des Journées du Patrimoine le 19 septembre 2004. the château was built in the 18th century. Its name comes from the family who acquired the fief of Ranville in 1751En 1751, Pierre Antoine Barnabé de Guernon-Ranville, Sieur de Saussay, né le 23 décembre 1718 et mort le 25 novembre 1777, a acheté le fief de Ranville et d’Escayeul à un dénommé M. de la Bretonnière. and who then added Ranville to their patronymic name, the result of which is Guernon-Ranville.La généalogie de cette famille est rapportée dans un manuscrit détenu en main privée, calligraphié à la plume et illustré de plus de 600 blasons et écus : Etude sur une famille normande (1066 à 1904) par l'un de ses membres, René Guernon. Un exemplaire de cet ouvrage a été vendu aux enchères à Lyon le 3 juillet 2008 (Lot 21).
The origin of this family, which is one of the oldest to be found among Norman nobility,The seniority of this family is attested in the various researches on the French nobility made in 1463–1465 by Monfaut, in 1599 by Roissy, and in 1666 by Chamillard. derives from:
In the 8th century, Rollon, considered to be the first Duke of Normandy, In the 11th century, Robert de Guernon, one of the companions-at-arms of William the Conqueror during the invasion of the kingdom of England beginning in 1066. In Normandy, Robert possessed several fiefs and estates to which he lent his name.Par exemple, le fief de Guernon situé dans la paroisse d'Oystreham, aujourd’hui Ouistreham (fr), commune située à moins de 10 km de Ranville, ou celui de Fauguernon sur lequel se trouvait le château féodal des Guernon. After the conquest of England, William the Conqueror gave Robert more than 50 manor houses, baronies and other domains in different counties of England.Ainsi que l'atteste le Domesday Book ou livre du cadastre du Royaume d'Angleterre. Robert settled in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, to the northeast of London. The site on which this castle is built is an important attraction for those who appreciate stately homes. Mountfitchet Castle is today classified as Historic Monument."In 1066 the site of Mountfitchet was attacked by the Normans and Robert Gernon, the Duke of Boulogne, built his castle here, making it his chief seat and the head of his Barony", peut-on lire sur le site officiel du château de Mountfitchet, https://www.mountfitchetcastle.com. Robert de Guernon is also an ancestor of the Cavendish family, one of the richest and most influential families of England from whom issue the Dukes of Devonshire.Tel que le rapporte Philip Morant, ecclésiastique anglais, dans The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex.
The arms of the Guernon family are: "". Azure (the colour blue) symbolises justice and loyalty. The hunting decoy ( in French) is the hood covering the head of birds of prey used for hunting. It is an emblem of the nobility whose first prerogative is the right to hunt. The a type of pierced-star symbol) are insignia of knighthood.
The château stayed in the Guernon-Ranville family for almost two centuries.Le château a été la propriété des Guernon-Ranville jusqu'en 1926. It was significantly remodeled in the 19th century by its most illustrious proprietor, the count and minister Martial de Guernon-Ranville.
Home of a 19th century government minister
In 1818, Count Martial de Guernon-Ranville inherited the property of RanvilleEnviron 90 hectares d'après un extrait de la matrice cadastrale des propriétés foncières de la commune de Ranville-sur-Orne. of which both his father and grandfather were 'Lord and Patron'.« Etude sur une famille normande (1066 à 1904) par l'un de ses membres, René Guernon », chapitre V, Chronologie de la branche des Guernon-Ranville, page 64. Martial began a career in the magistracy which led him to become a member of Parliament and a minister for the department of Ecclesiastic Affairs and Public Instruction (Ministre de l'Instruction publique et des Cultes) from 1829 to 1830 under Jules de Polignac.
Taking into consideration the numerous positions occupied throughout his professional life, it is unlikely that the Count lived in a permanent fashion at Ranville before 1836, the date from which he was given a compulsory order of residence.Condamné à un emprisonnement perpétuel par la Cour des Pairs sous Louis-Philippe I à la suite de son ministère sous Charles X, le Comte de Guernon-Ranville a été conduit au Fort de Ham et y est resté jusqu'au 23 novembre 1836, époque de son assignation à résidence. During his retirement, Martial reunited the two principal wings of the château, adding to one of the said wings an imposing gallery.Cette modification, qui a pratiquement doublé la largeur du bâtiment, est attestée à la fois par l'épaisseur conséquente de certains murs intérieurs du château, anciennement extérieurs, ainsi que par la présence d'un blason sculpté sur ce qui était jadis une fenêtre ou porte-fenêtre, aujourd'hui un passage intérieur. This modern addition rendered independent rooms until then opening one upon the other ("en enfilade" in French), a system of circulation through houses and other buildings still prevalent in the 18th century. The Count arranged for moldings and parquet flooring in different fine woods in the left wing which was reserved for the master of the house, family and guests.Ainsi que le rapporte le Répertoire des anciennes demeures françaises, Le Calvados I, Arrondissement de Caen.
Located in the right wing of the château was found those rooms necessary to house servants, kitchens and stables mews. One room served for the storage of fruits on large flat wooden shelves, built on an incline. In the kitchen area was a vast chimney as well as a larder for the preservation of perishable food items. The cavities located in the uppermost part of this wing were most certainly a pigeonry.
The outbuildings of the château consist of a barn for grain storage, a cellar, a workshop for the blacksmith as well as a wine press and a farmyard.D'après les actes notariés des 28 mars et 2 avril 1818, « Donation par M. Roger François Barnabé Comte de Guernon-Ranville, Chevalier de l'Ordre Royal et Militaire de St Louis demeurant à Caen, à son fils Martial alors avocat à Caen ».
Within the walls of the domain was also, most likely, a small, private chapel as well as a belvedere at the end of the park. This belvedere, no longer in existence, was an astonishing structure four flights high in which the Count stored his collection of precious stones. It is said that from the top of the belvedere one could see all the way to the sea by way of the Caen road.Gaël de Rohan-Chabot, Ranville autrefois, Imprimeur R. Lebrun, Caen, 1983. In this same era, there was a walled road which led from the château to the private crypt of the Guernons which is found alongside the church of Ranville in the centre of the village.On peut lire sur la plaque apposée à l'entrée de cet enclos : « Ce cimetière appartenait à la famille de Guernon-Ranville. Les héritiers en ont fait don à la commune de Ranville en 1990 ». In this enclosure, which belongs nowadays to the village, one can see sculpted family vaults of the Count and his wife.
Other records recount the existence of a subterranean passage going all the way to Caen but no trace of this passage has been found.
Holiday resort of patrons of the arts of the 20th century
At the beginning of the 20th century appear the very first postcards representing the "Château des Comtes de Guernon-Ranville". These cards are the work of small local publishersLes cartes postales sont signées des photographes Jules François Bréchet à Caen et A. Delaunay à Saint Aubin-sur-Mer ainsi que de l'éditeur Lacour qui tenait une épicerie-tabacs à Ranville. Le dos des cartes est divisé en deux parties, ce qui permet de les dater d'après 1903, année à partir de laquelle l'arrêté du 18 novembre autorise l'adresse sur la partie droite et la correspondance à gauche. and are taken from photographs showing the principal facade of the château with its flight of steps and a promontory above a part of the barn, no longer in existence, which must have served as an observatory.
At this time, the château belonged to a great-grandniece of the Count of Guernon-Ranville, Yvonne Colmiche.À la mort du Comte en 1866, celui-ci n'ayant pas eu d'enfant, le château est transmis à ses petits-neveux. Sa dernière propriétaire Yvonne Colmiche, née le 20 juillet 1882 à Ranville et décédée en 1946, était la fille de l'un d'eux. The château was thus also photographed under the name of "Château Colmiche". No longer permanently inhabited by this descendant of the Count, the property was rented to a succession of tenants, among whom figure Alexandre Natanson,Alexandre Natanson, né le 27 septembre 1866 à Varsovie en Pologne, décédé en mars 1936 à Paris, France. editor of La Revue Blanche (The White Review). Brother-in-law of the celebrated Misia, muse of fashionable and artistic Paris, as well as of the actress Marthe Mellot, he was also a patron and friend of great artistes of the era, including, among others, the painters Pierre Bonnard, Paul Signac, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.
In her book Le Pain Polka (The Polka Bread),Chapitre intitulé « Un imprudent petit poulet », pp. 32-40. Annette Vaillant, daughter of Marthe Mellot and niece of Alexandre Natanson, retells childhood memories of the château of Ranville where she joined her family several summers.D'après les propos d'Annette Vaillant, il est possible de dater ses séjours au château entre 1905 et 1908, époque à laquelle elle avait entre 3 et 6 ans. She makes reference of the disposition of rooms still in existence today, such as the large drawing room "where one always feels cold with that portrait of Napoleon shining as brilliantly as the parquet floor and the piano", the billiard room "with its high bench seats and the balls which roll soundlessly, clicking against one another" and also the small drawing room. Of the exterior of the château, Vaillant describes the belvedere "which dominates the roadway", the hothouse which has since disappeared "where hang from the roof warm grapes not yet ripe", the stone steps of the flight of steps, the first cyclamens which scatter about the lawn at the end of summer, as well as "the walkway of dahlias running along the other side of the tennis court".