600 years of history on land.
Funny feeling when arriving at the Manoir de Pré, in Chapelle-Guillaume (Eure-et-Loir).
The departmental winning outbuildings of the Heritage Loto in 2022 have been deconstructed.
Like a mikado, the craftsmen removed one by one the elements of the building dating from the Middle Ages.
Each board, beam, purlin and rafter are inventoried.
“Fourteen carpenters worked under the orders of master carpenter Gustave Rémon.
All the woods were marked and classified, for those that could be saved.
All that remains is a gable and low stone walls,” describes the owner of the Percheron manor, Pierre-Alexandre Treust.
Dendrochronology, the study of the dating of wooden frames, attests to construction in 1535. Before the intervention of the carpenters, everything threatened to collapse.
The low sandpits had disappeared.
The links of the framework broke, leading to the deformation of the roof and the northern wooden section came loose under the general tension of the building.
“We hope that the building will last for 600 years”
Before reassembling the outbuildings, another construction site is underway 700 meters from the old lordship.
The wood needed for the restoration is felled in an inaccessible forest.
The logging is carried out by animal traction, with three Percheron horses piloted by Christine Sallé.
Gustave Rémon will then cut the beams necessary for the frame with an ax from the logs.
“Each piece of wood is a tree, it’s heartwood.
Replacing pieces of wood with machine-sawn ones is not sustainable.
With this squaring technique, we hope that the building will last for 600 years,” explains the professional architect.
The Manoir du Pré opted for an old-fashioned restoration, calling on Percheron horses to remove the logs which will reconstitute the framework.
LP/Christophe Blondel
After its operations, the old outbuildings will be “recovered”.
A cob, a mixture of straw and clay, will be applied to insulate and consolidate the posts and restore the place to the appearance it already had during the Hundred Years' War.
Ultimately, all of the outbuildings are destined to become a place for exhibitions and craftsmen's vacations.
“Without the Heritage Loto the project could not be carried out because, economically, the envelope is enormous.
This made it possible to close the budget and save this small rural heritage, which reflects the history of our countryside,” insists the thirty-year-old.