Château de Sassy, Saint-Christophe-le-Jajolet, France

Château de Sassy was built of stone and bricks in the 18th century. It has imposing four levels of terraces. The Duke d’Audiffret-Pasquier, ancestor of the present owners, bought Sassy in 1850 and converted the east wing into a library, in order to house the important Parisian collection of his uncle, the Chancellor Pasquier.

Visitors can admire a fine furniture, various Aubusson and Gobelins tapestries and in the Chapel a 15 century retable (historical monument) coming from St. Bavon abbey in Ghent (Belgium). The Formal Gardens, surrounded by a moat, have been designed by Achille Duchesne, inspired by Le Nôtre achievements. This architecture of greenery and stone can be admired from the castle or when strolling along the terraces. The perspective is closed by a charming orangery, framed by a canopy of pruned lime trees. The garden's box, yew, laurel and other slow-growing evergreen plants are impervious to the seasons and wind, remaining fixed in their timeless splendour. The classical unity of the setting took more than a century to be accomplished. The central part of the castle dates back to the 18th century, while the formal beds were created around 1925.

References:

Normandie mémoire

User Reviews

nounours delyoncésar (18 months ago)
Really very pretty and very beautiful, magnificent estate, magnificent castle o

Sébastien Saquert (2 years ago)
Very nice discovery at Sassy castle surrounded by a pretty country setting. The guided tour was very informative. Our guide was fascinating, making the tour come alive. We fell in love with the library and the two living rooms! The formal gardens are well pruned by two gardeners doing a remarkable job.

Elodie bouchez (2 years ago)
Very pretty chateau with a beautiful property. The guide is welcoming, she answered all of our questions. The visit of the castle and the gardens was appreciated!

Malcolm Haines (2 years ago)
Great visit but you may have to hang around for the tour to start.

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Broch of Gurness

The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.

The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick. The tower was likely inhabited by the principal family or clan of the area but also served as a last resort for the village in case of an attack.

The broch continued to be inhabited while it began to collapse and the original structures were altered. The cistern was filled in and the interior was repartitioned. The ruin visible today reflects this secondary phase of the broch's use.

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Pieces of a Roman amphora dating to before 60 AD were found here, lending weight to the record that a 'King of Orkney' submitted to Emperor Claudius at Colchester in 43 AD.

At some point after 100 AD the broch was abandoned and the ditches filled in. It is thought that settlement at the broch continued into the 5th century AD, the period known as Pictish times. By that time the broch was not used anymore and some of its stones were reused to build smaller dwellings on top of the earlier buildings. Until about the 8th century, the site was just a single farmstead.

In the 9th century, a Norse woman was buried at the site in a stone-lined grave with two bronze brooches and a sickle and knife made from iron. Other finds suggest that Norse men were buried here too.

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