Angles-sur-l'Anglin
The eleventh century castle, castellum
Inglia, was built by the bishop of Poitiers on a rocky
hill overlooking the River Anglin before 1025. Like Chauvigny
the castle was later held by Lusignans and then Guichard d'Angles.
He was born in 1310 and was described by Froissart
as 'loyal, passionate,
wise, brave, gallant and forward'. In
1346 he
defended Niort for King Philip against the earl of Derby and later
fought at the battle of Maupertuis, where he was left
for dead. In
December 1360,
by the treaty of Brétigny,
King John II of France assigned various lands to Edward III
of England making up fully half of contemporary France. The
lands of Guichard were amongst this and he rapidly became marshal of
Aquitaine and then earl of Huntington as well as a member of the Order
of the Garter. He finally
died in London in 1380, where he was
tutor to the young King Richard II. In the meantime Angles
had fallen back to the Lusignan family who sold their claim to the
castle to the bishops of Poitiers, who retained Angle until the French
Revolution.
Description
Angles-sur-l'Anglin
is thought of as one of the most beautiful villages of France.
The castle is also spectacular perched as it is on its long
crag above the River Anglin. In shape it appears more like the
Byzantine castles of Sicily than a French fortress. The
castle, which follows the irregular rock, is roughly triangular with
the main buildings to the west, which is the widest part of the site.
At the NE apex is an elongated D shaped tower, similar to
that at Ewloe and Castell y Bere in Wales. Nearby to the west
of this is a squashed D shaped tower, more French in origin.
In the long SW wall above the river are three round towers,
on the front where the river and crag makes such defences rather
unnecessary. There is also a hall block projecting beyond the
enceinte on a crag and covering the central round tower.
To the east a short blocking wall across the ithmus of the site leads
to another D shaped tower in the north wall. There is also a
Romanesque entrance here, reduced in size and guarded bya macholation
above. This section may be the remnants of an early hall
keep, although its west side is now missing, the windows are much later
and a fifteenth century gable has been added which still stands to the
north. There are also D shaped buttresses to the east and
much older pilaster buttresses to the north beneath the gable.
From the 'hall' an
irregualr curtain meanders back
to the elongated D shaped tower. This wall is strengthened by
many buttresses and contains the north side of a round tower with
pilaster buttresses. This north front may be the oldest
section of the fortress. SE of this is a long narrow ward
with a D shaped tower in its own little ward at the NW end.
Steps lead up around the crag to a postern in the side of
this tower. Beyond this again to the SE is another irregular
ward with at least one D shaped turret. This contains the
castle chapel.
Why not join me here and at other French
castles? Information on this and other tours can be found at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry