Recent discoveries at the Catillon manor house have renewed our knowledge of wooden dwellings in the Pays d?Auge region, revealing the missing link between the large, single-storey, under-roof rooms and the superimposed, attic-level layouts. This timber-framed construction had attracted little attention, apart from its very large roof, its unusual width, and an astonishing dormer window, taking the form of a large gable, the ridge of which crosses the axis of the building. The archaeology of the building identified a nave and aisle structure with three bays.
The two side bays comprise two levels open onto the north and south gables; the north facade, which is virtually intact, retains a series of eight small, three-lobed windows on the upper floor, corresponding to the seigneurial chamber above a cellar. The wide central bay corresponds to a high room under the roof, with a fireplace on the north wall.
The dendrochronological study placed this construction no later than 1471. The relative discomfort of this immense volume led to the insertion of a floor around 1506, which justified the installation of a large "dormer" to ensure the lighting of the floor thus created. The original chimneys consisted of simple wooden hoods supported by large uprights grafted into the posts of the north wall. The nave-and-side aisle structures so common in medieval barns and halls were also suited to the design of wooden dwellings, of which there are still several examples in England.
The Manoir de Catillon is the last complete example in Normandy.
Lecture by Yves LESCROART, Conservateur des Monuments Historiques de Normandie, in Caen and Rouen, from 1976 to 2001. Inspecteur général des Monuments historiques, he held this position until 2010 in the regions of Alsace, Lorraine, Franche-Comté, then Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Centre-Val de Loire, Basse-Normandie and Champagne-Ardenne. He is the author of numerous studies on wooden architecture.
Conference organized by the Musée de Normandie - Château de Caen and the Société des antiquaires de Normandie.
Date
| On Friday 31 May | |
| Friday | Open from 18h to 19h |
Prices
- Free for all
