La signalétique patrimoniale en anglais

The Town Hall, formerly the “couvent des Récollets”

The Convent of the Récollets saw the light of day in 1622. It was a Catholic religious community descended from a reformed branch of the Franciscans (1) the Récollets, adepts of contemplation.

During the Revolution, the convent of the Récollets (2) was seized in 1791 by decree of the National Assembly and the district of Marennes was authorised to buy it. It served as a home for the local assembly, courts, prisons, justice of the peace and sub-prefecture for several decades. The collection of buildings and services became a sort of “cite administrative” well before time. Important renovations were undertaken: the rebuilding of the detention facility, the removal of a wing and the creation of a courtyard.
In 1867, the town hall was transferred to a fine building in rue Sainte-Vallière (today 100, rue Georges Clemenceau) and the former convent was concerned only with the affairs of justice. The town hall moved back to the convent in 1987, to the reorganised chapel where it remains to this day. In 2007, the courts were permanently closed and the buildings were acquired by the commune of Marennes from the Conseil départemental. Not open to visits.

Further information

1/ The Franciscan order

The order of Minor Friars (an order currently known as Franciscans) was a Catholic religious order that appeared in Italy in 1210 on the impetus of Saint Francis of Assisi. Following the example of Christ, its members try to live a life of poverty and evangelical simplicity. Insisting on the aspect of fraternity in their lives, Franciscans have chosen to call themselves “brothers”.

2/ Les Récollets

There were many who established themselves in the départements of the two Charentes from 1610 to 1613: (Royan, Saintes, Château d’Oléron, Brouage, Confolens, Pons, Jarnac, Mirambeau, Archiac, Cognac, La Rochelle…).

The market at Marennes

At Marennes, as far back as anyone can remember, the market took place in the little square in the centre of the town, formerly known as Marché Richelieu and where the “halles” and today’s covered market were built.

Facing the Richelieu house, the old market was open air and surround by mulberry trees and the traders complained that the fruits fell in their butter baskets! In 1896, after nine years of controversy, construction of the new market finally began. Fernand Michaud (1), a local man and later architect for the town of Rochefort, was in charge of the project.
The public was invited to celebrate the inauguration of the “halles de type Baltard” (2) at the end of November 1898. Some improvements have been made over time and notably in the 1980s. A second renovation took place in 2013 under Sophie Blanchet, an architect from La Rochelle and this gave back some of its original character to the building.

Further information

1/ Fernand Michaud

He was born in Marennes in 1851 into the family grocery next to the market. He became architect of Rochefort where he undertook many projects.

2/ Victor Baltard (1805-1874)

A famous architect and winner of the Grand Prix de Rome, he practised during the second Empire. He was recognised for the Halles de Paris (Halles Baltard) which he realised between 1852 and 1872; he gave his name to the style. They were composed of glass-covered pavilions with walls in glass and columns in wrought iron, thus breaking with the classical architecture of stone and allowing daylight to penetrate whilst being of a very light construction.

The Richelieu house

Built in 1650, the house belonged to Marshal Richelieu (1), great grandnephew of the famous Cardinal de Richelieu (2) then to the Duc de Richelieu (3) who gave the property to the town a few years before his death.
Despite the wear and tear of time, it has maintained a number of elements of the Renaissance style that it was richly endowed with during its construction.

The façade consists of four levels:

•  A ground floor of dressed stone, recently restored by its new owner.
• The so-called noble floor with (4) glazed bays and separated from the floor above by a moulding supporting consoles of vegetal decoration.
• The last floor is separated by a moulding with a series of modillions4 and a sole opening: the moulding rests on two consoles with figures that show the date of construction framing a central cartouche that was destroyed during the Revolution.
• A central skylight with a triangular pediment framed by openings completes the general composition at the level of the eaves, thus emphasizing the central axis of the façade. Two carved lions act as gargoyles (5).

Unfortunately, during the Revolution, the house was pillaged and set fire to; nothing remains of the internal decoration. Later on, it became an ironmonger’s “Aux Forges de Vulcain” as a painted inscription “Fers Fontes” on the façade of the second floor but that is no longer visible. The house became a listed monument in 1981 but is not open for visits.

Further information

1/ Maréchal de Richelieu

Louis-François-Armand de Vignerot du Plessis de Richelieu (1696-1788), duke, great grandnephew of Cardinal Richelieu, was amongst other appointments, First gentleman of the bedchamber and President of the Academy of Sciences.

2/ Cardinal de Richelieu

Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (1585-1642), cardinal (1622) and Duc de Richelieu, was the principal minister of Louis XIII from 1624.

3/ Duc de Richelieu

Louis Armand-Emmanuel-Sophie-Septimanie de Vignerot du Plessis (1766-1822), ambassador of the King Louis XV, President of the Council of Ministers and duke. Governor of Gascony and Guyenne (historic provinces that correspond roughly to the current regions of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie and Catalogne) friend of Catherine II (1729-1796), Empress of Russia; it was he who founded the town of Odessa in Ukraine.

4/ Modillions

Carved elements of architecture that support a moulding, a balcony or eaves.

5/ Gargoyle

A projecting part of a gutter designed to allow rainwater to flow at a certain distance from walls.

The house of Marie Bon

Pierre Loti (1) sometimes stayed in this house in the former Grande-Rue between 1880 and 1888. In fact, his sister Marie (1831-1908), wife of Armand Bon, tax collector for the commune, lived there at that time. A major responsibility was managing the bequest of the great benefactor of Marennes, Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (2) who had died in 1880. Pierre Loti visited his beloved niece Ninet.

Pierre Loti wrote that this house had “a real feeling for the past”, “its garden and arbours filled with nests of nightingales and blackbirds that dominate and seem to protect the old belltower of Marennes”. A nook with “a very old wall, against which grow almond and flowering pomegranate trees” was part of the favourite places in the heart of the property, according to Loti’s writings. It was in this house that Marie Bon painted the portrait of Jacques Dubois-Meynardie that hangs in the council chamber.

Further information

1/ Pierre Loti

Louis-Marie-Julien Viaud known as Pierre Loti (1850-1923) was a naval officer, writer, essayist, novelist (“Pêcheur d’Islande” “Ramuntcho” etc), journalist, travel writer and photographer. He was born in Rochefort and was elected to the Académie Française in 1892. He was given a state funeral and was buried in Saint-Pierre-d’Oléron; his house in Rochefort has been transformed into a museum.

2/ Jacques Dubois-Meynardie

Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (1797-1880) was a landowner and trader. On his death in 1880, his fortune was left to the municipality with the condition that it be used for the destitute. His gift was sufficient to build the hospital and the primary school.

The public garden

This verdant haven of peace was created thanks to the gift in 1906 by Pierre-René Mignon (1) of the eponymous boatyard installed along the quays of the port of Marennes, a business handed down from father to son until its closure in the 1980s.
A statue of Charles-Esprit Le Terme (2) was erected in recognition of his deeds. He was the author of a general regulation of the marshes that is still in use today and was made a chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in 1825.
Henry Mériot (3) has a particular place in garden because he met there regularly with Charentais poets and novelists, “Les poètes réunis”. He was present at a ceremony for the planting of a pine tree (no longer in existence) in 1933, on the initiative and in the presence of the mayor Pierre Voyer (4).
He was made chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur on 31st July 1934. The bandstand, like the pine, no longer with us, was in the centre of the garden. Playgrounds for adults and children as well as an open-air theatre added moments of sweet freedom to this delightful area and was the site for fetes that attracted visitors from all over. Not far from the children’s play area was a fountain and the tower that supports the reservoir is still visible. It was built in 1852 in order to encourage ships to take the long channel to the new port at Marennes and thus obtain a refill of fresh water.

Further information

1/ Pierre-René Mignon (1803-1909)

He succeeded his mother Eustelle Mignon, the founder and manager of the Mignon boatyard that first saw life in the early 19th century.

2/ Charles-Esprit Le Terme

He was born in 1787 and died in 1849, a victim of cholera. He was sub-prefect of Marennes from 1818 to 1837. He is remembered as the saviour of the population of Marennes from the endemic fevers spread by the miasmas of the marshes and poorly maintained channels (“marais gâts”). He required owners to get together and maintain their “achenaux” (different branches of water that connect the marshes).

3/ Henry Mériot (1856-1934)

A well-known poet, he was born in Marennes in rue Sainte-Valière, today rue Georges-Clemenceau. His father died when he was very young and he was brought up by his mother and grandmother, laundresses by trade. In the market, near the bookbinding workshop of Arsène Florentin, he became fascinated by and apprenticed in the profession of bookbinding. After his marriage, he set up home in Rochefort where his bookbinding and gilding workshop attracted many writers. He met Pierre Loti there. He published a large amount of his own poetry. His workshop was a reading room thronged by the artistic and literary world of Rochefort.

4/ Pierre Voyer (1852-1940)

A departmental councillor, he was mayor ofMarennes in 1894 and MP from 1910 to 1914 and then again from 1919 to 1924.

The ports of Marennes and the canal from the Seudre to the Charente

Few things remain and are still visible from the centuries gone by and yet … In the 18th century, the port of Marennes was situated at Le Lindron, some 1.5km from here and linked to the Seudre by the Lindron canal of 5.8km in length.

This canal traversed a salt zone where lots of the salt for trade (1) was produced. Along the canal, fifteen “charges” were arranged on a kind of platform “big enough for the horses bringing the salt to manoeuvre easily”. A pond (2) upstream from the port closed by a lock was built in 1850 and remains visible today. But maintaining the Lindron canal was too difficult because of its winding nature and the frequency of its silting up and it was abandoned.
There were some boat construction activities on the edges of the marsh, where the public garden is now to be found, but they exist no more. A decision was therefore taken to dig a straight canal between this place and the Seudre, ending at the pond in front of you, at the entrance to Marennes and with quays and mooring bollards. A system was devised to retain water in the pond at low tide.
The pond or basin, linked to a port, filled as the tide came in. At low tide, opening the lock
enabled the port and the channel downstream to be cleaned (dredged) by letting a deluge of water flow.

The works were approved in 1843 and completed by the opening of a new unballasting (3) creek between the Marennes canal and the Lindron canal. The works were finished in 1848. A fountain was built in 1852 in order to encourage ships to take the long channel to the new port at Marennes and thus obtain a refill of fresh water. The tower that supported the reservoir is still visible in the public garden.
It was in the 1860s that the current canal between Le Lindron and the port of Marennes was dug and this enabled the Seudre to be linked to the Charente. The map of the Ports Atlas in 1884 shows this new layout as well as the junction canal towards Le Lindron and beyond, to the Charente. It also shows the railway line that connected Rochefort to La Pointe du Chapus via Marennes that was inaugurated in 1889. Today, it is a cycle path.
The canal from La Cayenne to Marennes was a hive of activity because of the Saint Gobain chemical works. It was also used by torpedo boats at the end of the 19th century that also travelled along the Seudre-Charente canal. Spanish boats took refuge here during the Spanish Civil War. At one end of the canal, the unballasting canal became the oyster port and at the other, the marina. Boatyards were economically important in the 20th century and were responsible for the animation in both ports.

Further information

1/ Salicole

Sea salt produced commercially in the saltmarshes.

2/ Pond

A pond or basin linked to a seaport that filled with the incoming tide. It enabled the port and canal downstream to be cleaned (dredged) at low tide by opening the lock, thus letting a deluge of water flow.

3/ Unballasting

The unballasting of ships was of crucial importance. The ships that traded along our coasts often arrived empty but with ballast in the hold for safe sailing at sea thanks to the weight of the ballast. It was therefore essential to remove this ballast before loading with salt, cereals or wines from Saintonge.

4/ Lock

Part of the pond. It was a construction for retaining water so as to enable, when open, the water to clear the mud or sand that blocked the canal.

The mouth of the Seudre and the oyster port

The Seudre is a short coastal river of less than 70km that ends in an estuary some 800m wide at the point where the bridge crosses it, on your right. The estuary is tidal up to the Ribérou lock at Saujon, 20km upstream. The tidal range (the difference between high tide and low tide) can exceed 5m, covering or uncovering the numerous oyster parks. On the left bank of the Seudre, you can see La Grève, the port of La Tremblade; farther left are the ports of Mornac-sur-Seudre and Chaillevette. On the right, after the bridge, is the seaside town of Ronce-les-Bains, facing Saint-Trojan-les-Bains on the île d’Oléron. On this same bank, after the bridge is Marennes-Plage.
As the tide goes out you can watch the oystermen’s boats heading at high speed for the parks or as the tide comes in, the boats will be filled with sacks of oysters ready to be matured in the clear ponds. Before the beginnings of the culture and trade in oysters, ship would sail up the Seudre and its channels (1) to load the salt produced in the marshes on both banks of the river, or cereals and wine from the hinterland. In the 17th century sailors from both banks would embark on ships laden with food and salt for several months of fishing for cod off the coasts of Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.
In the second half of that century, the mouth of the Seudre was where ships bound for Africa were fitted out or laid up. There was even a suggestion that a port to compete with Brest on the “Mers du Ponant” be constructed but Colbert (2) considered that no ship entering the Seudre could “have more than 40 guns as this river is too shallow for the types of ship we wish to build; the channels are too dangerous and that it would be difficult to build warehouses in an area full of marshes and that we would have to build on piles. The cost would be excessive”. After re-examining the case for Brouage, and then Soubise, it was finally in 1666 that Rochefort was chosen for the future Arsenal (3) of the Navy.
In the 18th century, it was by the canal situated 150m upstream that ships reached Marennes, at Le Lindron. The canal that today links the Seudre to the marina of Marennes did not exist. There was just an unballasting (4) canal where ships that were loading cargo would first dispose of their ballast. In the middle of the 19th century the canal that extended the unballasting canal was extended to the gates of Marennes, with a new port that replaced that of Le Lindron. This work entailed the opening of a new unballasting canal with a pond (5) and lock (6) (still visible).

This creek is today the oyster port; the central reservation where you stand today is also a parking area and was created by using the ballast left by ships. A Customs house was built in 1855 and a ferry service made links between Marennes/La Cayenne and La Tremblade/La Grève until the construction of the bridge over the Seudre in 1972. A ferry boat still provides a link for pedestrians and cyclists in summer.
At the end of the 1930s, Chantier Paraveau (7), a boat builder opened on this site; their best-known boats are those used for oyster-farming, initially sail-powered, later with motors like “Père Gabriel” of 1942 and “Coppelia” of 1952, both still in use today. In the 1970s, new manufacturing techniques were used for the construction of flat-bottomed barges in wood and later in aluminium.
The yard also built fishing boats for the Basque region, Brittany and even the coast of Normandy that can still be seen in the ports. An example is the 12m “Buhez Ar Vro” a trawler built in 1988 that is today at Arcachon after working at Les Sables d’Olonne and Le Guilvinec. The yard’s reputation was such that it was asked to build sailing boats like “La Licorne” in 1973 that can today be found at Saint-Malo. They also worked on the restoration of historic vessels such as the buoy tender “Clapotis” of 1920, visible in the port of Boyardville or “La Flèche of 1954 built for fishing and oyster-farming and visible at Mornac-sur-Seudre.

Further information

1/ Channels

The different stretches of water that link marshes to rivers.

2/ Jean-Baptiste Colbert

Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-1683) was a French statesman. He was one of the principal ministers of Louis XIV being Controller-general of finance from 1665 to 1683, Secretary of State to the King and to the Navy (1669-1683).

3/ Arsenal of the navy

In the 17th century, Louis XIV dreamed of not only being master of Europe but also of the seas. He sought a site to construct his warships. He chose Rochefort on the Charente to install the most agreeable arsenal of the kingdom, made famous by the Corderie Royale (ropeworks). It was built in a meander of the Charente and quickly gained its nickname of the Versailles of the seas as well as being a site of technical innovation in matters of naval construction. Between its opening in 1666 and its closure in 1927, more than 550 warships were built there.

4/ Unballasting

The unballasting of ships was of a crucial importance. The ships that traded along our coasts often arrived empty but with ballast in the hold for safe sailing at sea thanks to the weight of the ballast. It was therefore essential to remove this ballast before loading with salt, cereals or wines from Saintonge.

5/ Pond

A pond or basin linked to a seaport that enabled the port to be cleaned (dredged) at low tide by letting a deluge of water flow.

6/ Lock

Part of the pond (5). When open, it allowed the pond to fill during the incoming tide. When closed, the mass of water thus retained was released during the outgoing tide to clear the mud or sand that might obstruct a port or a canal.

7/ Chantier Paraveau

Albert Paraveau, a naval carpenter and Compagnon du tour de France, established the business at the end of the 1930s. His son Jean-Claude succeeded him; the yard closed in 2000.

L’hôtel des Fermes

A 16th century former town house, it became the seat of the “Fermes (1)” during the Ancien Régime (2). In this period, Marennes was at its peak mainly due to the numerous saltmarshes surrounding it. Salt (3) was exported largely to northern Europe.
With the prosperity of the town, men of the legal professions, salt merchants and other traders built fine houses, in particular this one. When, under the Ancien Régime, the town acquired royal administrations in the 18th century, it became the seat of the Office des Fermes bought by Jean-Élie-Charron, then the Chamber of notaries and a masonic lodge (4).
Its Renaissance style is unique in Marennes. It is a very simple dwelling with a tour on three floors and mullioned windows. It was called a logis (5) but it never belonged to a noble. It was acquired by the Charron family and it was Jean-Élie, a rich trader, who transformed it by adding the façade of the château de Beauregard at Chaillevette as he was owner of the ruins. It was listed as a historic monument in 1927 but is not open to visits.

Further information

1/ Ferme

Created in 1680 by Louis XIV on the recommendation of Colbert, the chancellor of the exchequer, the “Ferme Générale” is the entitlement of the king of France which he hads to the “Fermiers généraux” in charge of the receipt of indirect taxes, customs duty, registration duties and state products.

2/ Ancien Régime

A term that describes the social, economic, religious and political organisation of France before the Revolution of 1789, between the 15th and 18th centuries.

3/ Salt

For centuries, salt was considered as “white gold”. It is an essential product as it is one of the few means of preserving food and is also a nutritious element for cattle. During the Ancien Régime, it was frequently used as a currency. Thus, as early as 1342, a tax on salt sales was introduced by decree of Philippe VI, who made sales of salt a state monopoly; the tax was known as the “gabelle”. Salt could only be sold in barns administered by the king. The gabelle was added to the merchant’s sales price and it became one of the most unequal and unpopular taxes of the Ancien Régime.
The price of salt was fixed but the gabelle varied according to the territory, sometimes with a difference of forty times from one zone to another. In order to control sales and taxes and suppress contraband, the authorities put in place a network of customs officers known as “gabelous”. The gabelle was removed in 1790 but reappeared in the form of a new salt tax under Napoléon 1st and was only abolished in 1946 after the Second World War.

4/ Masonic lodge

This is the name given to a local group of persons attached to freemasonry. New members of a lodge are coopted by existing members. It is sometimes described as “a philosophic and philanthropic association”, “a moral code illustrated by symbols” or an “initiatory order”. Freemasonry has always been the subject of attacks by political parties and religions. There are numerous obedience throughout the world.

5/ Logis

From the end of the 11th century to the middle of the 15th, the part of a building reserved for the Lord and his family was known as the logis.

Marennes hospital

The foundations of the Marennes hospital were laid in 1892. Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (1), a generous philanthropist who had died on 9th August 1880, left in his will of 1854 a large part of his wealth to create a hospital at Marennes. The intention of the bequest was to improve the lot of the poor. He wrote : “I want a doctor to take care free of charge of the poor who will be paid a fixed sum by the Town Council. Most of the patients will be offered medication free of charge. It must not be forgotten that vintage wine and broth are also remedies for poor people whose illnesses are generally brought about by exhaustion due to fatigue and poor food.”
In 1931, it was a hospital-hospice but was reorganised completely in 1942 with a medical service as well as an operating theatre fully equipped for surgical operations. It became successively a rural hospital then a local hospital in 1976. There were beds for fifty patients. On 25th October 1969, Irène de Lipkowski (2), mayor of Marennes, opened the maternity wing in the presence of three secretaries of state and Jean Lipkowski, her son, secretary of state in the Foreign Ministry and mayor of Royan. The last babies were born in 1982 before the wing closed permanently. The hospital became a neighbourhood establishment mainly for the treatment of geriatric patients and opened a unit in 2004 to treat patients with Alzheimer’s.

Further information

1/ Jacques Dubois-Meynardie

Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (1797-1880) was a landowner and trader. On his death in 1880, his fortune was left to the municipality with the condition that it be used for the destitute. His gift was sufficient to build the hospital and the primary school.

2/ Irène de Lipkowski

Irène de Lipkowski was mayor of Marennes between 1964 and 1971. In 1961 after 14 years as deputy mayor in Orly, she was beaten in the elections by the Communist party. Her son Jean, an MP for Charente-Maritime is supposed to have said: “There’s a commune in my constituency with an elderly mayor who’d like to retire but he would like to know who’s replacing him. You should introduce yourself.” She replied “I did just that and ran on the list of Union and Communal Action.”

La caserne du commandant Lucas

La Caserne du commandant Lucas (1) was built at the start of the 20th century and opened in January 1907. Before the First World War, the barracks was home to the 3rd regiment of colonial infantry (Rochefort) and after the Second World War, a mobile brigade of gendarmerie and finally to a detachment of CRS (Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité) until the end of the 1970s.
The barracks was a vast building on four floors including mansards. It was empty for a long time after the departure of the CRS and was badly damaged during the Great Storm of 1999. It was left as a wasteland until 2004 when the municipality knocked down the main building and granted permission for the construction of modern buildings.

Further information

1/ Jean-Jacques Etienne Lucas

He was born on 28th April 1764 at Marennes and joined the Coastguard at Rochefort at the age of 14. His first post involved escorting convoys along the coasts. He was posted as an apprentice pilot on the Hermione and sailed with the French expeditionary force in 1780 across the Atlantic with La Fayette. His baptism of fire resulting in his first wounds happened off the coast of Canada during the American War of Independence. He returned home in 1782 after five battles and with an impressive record.
After several campaigns in the Mediterranean, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean, he was promoted Captain in 1803. He commanded the “Redoutable” a 74 gun ship that he made famous at the battle of Trafalgar when he boarded the “Victory”, flagship of the English fleet; Admiral Nelson (1758-1805) died from a shot fired from his ship. During the battle, Lucas was made prisoner and given the honours due to his rank. Later on he was decorated by Napoleon with the Légion d’Honneur. In 1809, he was commander of the “Régulus” during the “fireship affair” in the bay of the île d’Aix. In April 1809, thirty or so French ships, anchored in the bay, faced an English fleet beyond the range of the canons in the forts of Oléron and Aix.

The English sent in fireships, blown by the wind, loaded with explosives and incendiary devices that routed the French fleet. The only ship to escape, the “Régulus,” resisted two weeks of successive attacks by the English who finally withdrew. Lucas was greeted as a hero at Rochefort. He was congratulated by the Emperor and listed for promotion as rear-admiral. He was placed in early retirement at the Restoration at only 51. Three years later, bitter and discouraged, he died at Brest at the age of 54 in November 1819.

La Caisse d’Épargne (Savings Bank)

Banking activities at Marennes developed rapidly as a result of the prosperity of rich bourgeois families linked to the salt industry; more modest families were de facto excluded as these banks were reserved for the wealthy elite.

To remedy this situation, the Caisse d’Épargne building opened in 1880, following the significant expansion of these establishments in the country. The Marennes branch paradoxically had a richly decorated exterior, unlike other banking outlets. The bank enabled the less wealthy to build up their own capital by making investments of all levels. With the development of oyster farming, the seasonal nature of the activity made these investments particularly useful to organise the workers’ daily lives.
The building that is situated in the heart of the cramped former Rue du Temple, is in the style of Renaissance Louis XII. The large central scrolled (2) cartouche (1) over the imposing entrance still shows the name Caisse d’Épargne. A large double (3) window dominates the building, crowned by a pediment with reversed scrolls and sculpted branches of laurel and oak on which the arms of Marennes are shown. Three architectural decorations known as flame vases (4) were placed at the top of the construction thus completing the edifice. The property was acquired by the commune in 2012 and transformed into offices for the public services.

Further information

1/ Cartouche

A cartouche is an architectural decoration with its central space empty for placing inscriptions such as dates, emblems, or even bas-reliefs.

2/ Scroll

Scroll is a decorative motif in the form of a spiral.

3/ Double

In architecture, double is used for windows, arcades or windows grouped by without necessarily being in contact with each other – separated by a column for example.

4/ A flame

Vase is an architectural embellishment consisting of a stone vase and a flame, inspired by fireworks placed in a pot.

Henri Aubin school

Until the Revolution, education of children was undertaken by the religious community. There were many ecclesiastic schools at Marennes and the population had a high level of literacy. There were up to 17 schools for 30 parishes and this enabled a large number of children to receive a basic education. There were also Instructors of youth, schoolteachers, writing teachers and private tutors.
In 1793, the National Convention decreed that teachers would be sent into départements where French was less used (Brittany, Provence, etc). From 1816 1 the communes were responsible for instruction but money was short and generally classes and the teacher’s accommodation were set up in private houses. In Marennes, the boys’ school (Institution Raïssac) was organised in a large bourgeois property that would be later occupied by the Town Hall from 1860 until 1987 when it moved to the Récollets convent.

The Law of 28th March 1882 2 made primary education compulsory and a commission was set up in each commune to ensure attendance in the schools. Marennes council voted for the acquisition of a piece of land in January 1882 with the poetic name of “Jardin du printemps” and according to the wishes of Jacques Dubois-Meynardie 3 his legacy financed the construction of the school. It was inaugurated on 11 August 1889 and was open only to boys; there were 336 pupils. An eighth class was envisaged as early as 1891. It had a boarding element until the 1960s. Its current name is that of a former teacher, later headteacher, who taught at the school from 1942 to 1976.

Further information

1/ Decree of 29th February 1816

Dating from the Restoration, “each commune is required to provide primary instruction for children and that the destitute receive it free of charge”.

2/ Law of 28th March 1882

The law required compulsory secular education. The text was published by Jules Ferry (1832-1892), Minister of Instruction in the III Republic. It was the continuity of the law relating to compulsory education.

3/ Jacques Dubois-Meynardie

Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (1797-1880) was a landowner and trader. On his death in 1880, his fortune was left to the municipality with the condition that it be used for the destitute. His gift was sufficient to build the hospital and the primary school.

The former masonic lodge

Freemasonry (1) had been established in Charente-Inférieure since the middle of the 18th century. The Grand Orient de France (2) was founded in 1773 but an earlier lodge (3) had already been set up in La Rochelle in 1752 followed by Saint-Jean d’Angély, Rochefort and Marennes.

The masonic lodge of Marennes, named successively “Concorde” then “Unity restored” set up in the ”Logis de Marennes” at 82 rue Clemenceau (house with a 16th century staircase tower).

Mothballed during La Terreur (4), it started up again during the Empire (5) but the themes of its works evolved during the 19th century: the lodges occupied themselves more with the struggle against poverty and begging, for the improvement of learning, for free public education for the destitute and the creation of public libraries.
Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (6), benefactor of Marennes, was a member of the Marennes lodge and illustrated perfectly this evolution. Under the Restoration (7) freemasonry was accused of having paved the way for the Revolution and having precipitated the fall of the Ancien Régime (8); it was consequently suspect in the eyes of the authorities. After a spell in rue du Cdt Lucas, the lodge moved to the present setting in 1910. It is a neo-classic construction with an open peristyle (9) formed by two monumental columns and topped with a semicircular pediment. It bears a strong resemblance to the temple, some 200m further on in the same street. It was sold to a private individual in 1955 and cannot be visited.

Further information

1/ Freemasonry

This is the name given to a local group of persons attached to freemasonry. New members of a lodge are coopted by existing members. It is sometimes described as “a philosophic and philanthropic association”, “a moral code illustrated by symbols” or an “initiatory order”. Freemasonry has always been the subject of attacks by political parties and religions. There are numerous obediences throughout the world.

2/ Grand Orient de France

This is the oldest masonic obedience in France and the most important in Europe.

3/ Masonic lodge

Name given to the members of a group that is part of the freemasonry movement on a local level.

4/ La Terreur

Period during the Revolution from 1793 to 1794. It was defined by a state of emergency responding to the many crises that the country was going through. About 500,000 people were imprisoned and many tens of thousands executed by guillotine, drowning or firing squad, hence “La Terreur”.

5/ The Empire

The French regime from 18th May 1804 when Napoléon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of the French until his abdication on 4th April 1814 and then from his return from exile on 20th March 1815 in Paris until 7th July 1815.

6/ Jacques Dubois-Meynardie

Jacques Dubois-Meynardie (1797-1880) was a landowner and trader. On his death in 1880, his fortune was left to the municipality with the condition that it be used for the destitute. His gift was sufficient to build the hospital and the primary school.

7/ The Restoration

Period of French history corresponding to the return of the monarchy as a political system, succeeding the Napoleonic empire.

8/ Ancien Régime

A term that describes the social, economic, religious and political organisation of the kingdom of France before the Revolution of 1789, between the 15th and 18th centuries.

9/ Peristyle

A colonnade encircling an inner courtyard or around a building.

La chapelle des Sœurs, the media library

It was the nuns in the 18th century in this former convent who were at the origin of the Marennes media library. The influence of the Intendant Arnou (1) extended to the creation of alms-houses for treatment of the ill. Four nuns were nominated at Marennes and in 1791, the civil constitution of the clergy submitted to the civil power of the organisation of the Church but nevertheless, the nuns continue to propose their service to the ill and the poor.

After the Revolution, nuns came together in Marennes and established themselves in rue des Forges, today rue Fradin, where they looked after the numerous unfortunates of the commune. In 1807, the nuns donated their house to the Sœurs de la Charité de Marennes and this was confirmed by decree of 16th June 1808 by Emperor Napoléon 1st. After the death of the surviving nun, Catherine Jospeh Douchez, the convent took the name of “House of Mercy” where the Sœurs de la Sagesse set up a school for young girls.

It wasn’t until 1861 that the Town Council gave its opinion on the legal recognition of the Sœurs de la Charité. The chapel next to the convent no longer exists but Father Jean Frédéric Brassaud (2) proposed to the Town Council to give the land needed to extend the lane from rue des Forges to the route de Rochefort. On 24th July 1867, the council accepted the priest’s offer which required the commune to annex a building used by the nuns as a convent and to not oppose the future construction of a Catholic chapel on the site of the buildings annexed.
The proposition was debated in 1867 and the chapel was finally built in 1868. After the dissolution of the Community of nuns in 1903, the chapel served successively as a place to store the fire-engine, then as a rehearsal room for the orchestra and lastly for the band of Marennes. In 2004, this remarkable building was rehabilitated to house the first section of the media library. In 2013, the council decided to undertake the woks necessary to make this cultural centre a major, friendly, live space for the commune. Today, the former chapel has become a media library that is a place of social diversity, a space for living and creating links.

Further information

1/ Pierre Arnoul (1651-1719)

He was born and died in Paris; he was Intendant of justice, police, finances and the navy in Rochefort from 1680 to 1688. He worked on the problem of Protestants in Aunis and Saintonge during the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Using a persuasive and persecutory policy, he brought back many believers to Catholicism.

2/ Father Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Brassaud (1805-1875)

An honorary canon, archpriest of Marennes and much appreciated by his parishioners, he died on 2nd April 1875 after a long and cruel agony; he served Marennes for 33 years. The Town Council commemorated his life by naming the square near the church after him, a way of giving homage to this man considered worthy of being retained in the collective memory.

The Post Office

Rebuilt using the plans of the architect Henri Geay (1) in 1933, the Post Office was set back from the street and the resulting unused space improved by the municipality. The Post Office played an important part in a town whose economy, based on the oyster trade, was closely linked to the exchange of correspondence for commercial acts.

The Post Office was built in the Art Déco style and was a significant contrast with the overdone, pompous Classico-Renaissance style used until then. It was a very different building with bricks forming vertical bands either side of the doorway and an overhanging roof providing a shelter. The use of light yellow bricks was as much for their quality of insulation as for their cost. In 1869, the postmen of Marennes were the first to be equipped with bicycles thanks to the initiative of the mayor, Aimé Olivier de Sanderva (2) who with his brother René Olivier, participated actively in the promotion of and the development of the bicycle (“la petite reine”).

Further information

1/ Henri Geay (1875-1945)

He was born in Cognac and was a pupil of Blondel. He was the government’s chief architect and architect of Ancient Monuments in Haute-Vienne from 1911 to 1929. He gained his diploma in1906 and took over his father’s architecture business in Limoges before opening a branch in Cognac. He later became the government’s chief architect and then in the interwar period, regional architect for the Post Office (“PTT”). He was architect of, amongst others, the Chambre de Commerce in Angoulême, the Post Offices in Châtellerault and Saint-Jean-d’Angély.

2/ Aimé Victor Olivier

Aimé Victor Olivier, vicomte de Sanderval. He was born in 1840 and became an explorer in West Africa and a Cryptarch – the leader or guide of a tribe or micro-nation; in his case, king of the Peuls. He died in 1919. He invented the spoked wheel and established the first bicycle company, the Compagnie Parisienne des Vélocipèdes. He encouraged postmen to be equipped with bicycles to speed up their rounds.

The temple

Marennes was one of the first towns in the area to welcome the new ideas of the Protestant Reform (1) and a majority of the population quickly became members. A first temple was thus built in 1558 in today’s impasse Dubois-Meynardie.

Soon after the publication of the Edict of Nantes (2) and bearing in mind the number of new converts, the Protestant community of Marennes built a bigger temple in 1600, in the town centre, rue Dubois-Meynardie. It was demolished in the 17th century, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (3), by Louis XIV in 1685 (prohibition of Protestantism) which led to the exile of some 200,000 people (4) from the kingdom of France. Many people from Marennes went to England, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the American colonies or other destinations. The former chapel of the Jesuit convent, sold in 1795 as a national asset (5) was purchased in 1807 by the consistory (6) of Marennes as the new temple.
The dedication (7) took place on 9th December 1810. Many alterations have since been made and following the fire of an adjoining building, a harmonious façade was added with 2 ionic capitals (8). With its triangular pediment, it represents the neo-classic architectural style of the 19th century. The Bible, symbol of the Reform and reminder of the long period of adherence by the people of Marennes to Protestantism, features on the pediment. Once the works were complete a new dedication took place on 27th January 1861. The temple that you see and admire today was redesigned by the architect Jossier following the set-back of the façade required by the town in 1853-4.

Further information

1/ Protestant reform

The transformation of the Christian religion that began at the end of the Middle Ages until the start of the 17th century with the intention of returning to the sources and challenging the Roman Catholic church.

2/ The Edict of Nantes

Signed by Henry IV at Nantes on 13 April 1598, this order of pacification defined the rights of Protestants in France and ended the Wars of Religion.

3/ Revocation of the Edict of Nantes

On 18th October 1685, Louis XIV revoked the edict and prohibited Protestantism in France. Thus began the return of persecution, destruction of Protestant temples and schools and exile.

4/ 200,000 Protestants

They represented 1% of the population of some 20 million inhabitants.

5/ National asset

A law during the Revolution that resulted in the confiscation of the possessions of the Church, the monarchy, and nobles …

6/ Consistory

The Protestant governing body.

7/ Dedication

Consecration of a place, the rite by which it is appointed to serve God.

8/ Ionic capital

The capital is the top, the upper part of a column. An ionic capital has scrolls representing a rolled band.

The former sub-prefecture

Initially installed in the former Récollets convent (today’s town hall), it was moved in 1841 to this 18th century townhouse known as the “Froger de la Rigaudière” (1) and to two private dwellings.
Extensive modernisation was undertaken to unify the buildings with the addition of a gateway giving onto the square and a long rear façade (in the ornamental Classic-Renaissance style where bosses (2) and pediments are placed next to large windows) that replaced the wine cellar (3) and the carriage house. In 1887, Marennes was one of 66 sub-prefectures that the Interior Ministry proposed to close.
The robust protest sent to the parliamentarians of the département succeeded in preserving the institution for a while and was led by the mayor, Aimé Victor Olivier, vicomte de Sanderval (4).
However, the delay was short-lived. The île d’Oléron was now reached by a steamer, the transporter bridge of Martrou and various road improvements made journeys much easier and after two centuries of existence, the sub-prefecture was closed permanently in 1926. Today, the buildings are occupied by a delegation of the Conseil départemental de Charente-Maritime and are not open to visits.

Further information

1/ The Froger de la Rigaudière et de l’Eguille family

Now extinguished, was part of French nobility and was established in Saintonge. It was best known for its activities in the Navy in the 17th and 18th centuries and was ennobled in 1711. André Alexandre Froger de La Rigaudière (1722-1807) was a naval officer, first lieutenant in the East India Company and a knight of Saint-Louis.

2/ Boss

A stone cladding forming a projecting boss in relation to its edges.

3/ Wine cellar

This is where vinification of the grape juice takes place.

4/ Aimé Victor Olivier, vicomte de Sanderval

He was born in 1840 and became an explorer in West Africa and a Cryptarch – the leader or guide of a tribe or micro-nation; in his case, king of the Peuls. He died in 1919. He invented the spoked wheel and established the first bicycle company, the Compagnie Parisienne des Vélocipèdes. He encouraged postmen to be equipped with bicycles to speed up their rounds. As mayor of Marennes he wrote to parliamentarians to show his disapproval: “What will Marennes become without its sub-prefecture, its courts and the various services? Competition from the east and the Salins du Midi has destroyed our salt farms, our vines are attacked by phylloxera, our cattle make no money, our agriculture is languishing and our working class too poor. Marennes owes its vitality to the public officials who live there. If the sub-prefecture is closed, it will condemn our town to a certain death.”

La place Chasseloup-Laubat

Known as “Place des Aires” until 1876; the name was changed to Place Chasseloup-Laubat after Justin Napoléon Samuel Prosper Chasseloup-Laubat (1).

The choice of a representative statue was made in 1874 thanks to donations and it was inaugurated on 13th September, accompanied by a traditional fete. It was created by the French sculptor Alexandre-Victor Lequien (1822-1905), and represents the Minister of the Admiralty and colonies, Justin Napoléon Samuel Prosper Chasseloup-Laubat making a speech. His right hand follows his rhetoric whereas the left is symbolically raised to the breast.
It was made from bronze, the top artistic material and “Le Petit Journal Illustré” of 12th September 1874 considered it a “fine piece of work, well composed and particularly well crafted.” During the Vichy (2) regime on 7th August 1942 it was removed from its plinth and melted down by the German authorities. It was replaced on its original plinth three years after the end of the war by a stone copy of 1948 by the sculptors Jacques Froment-Meurice et Jean Joachim (3). Over time it has become one of the most important identity symbols of Marennes. Victor Hugo (4) who stayed in Marennes in September 1843 will not have been able to see it.

Further information

1/ Monsieur Chasseloup-Laubat

Justin Napoléon Samuel Prosper Chasseloup-Laubat (1805-1873), (Count then Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, was Minister of the Navy and colonies then Prime Minister under Napoléon III) was the elected representative of Charente-Inférieure at parliament in 1871. He was president of the Geography Society from 1864 until his death, a regular contributor to the “Revue des deux Mondes”. He was the youngest son of General François Chasseloup de Laubat (1754 – 1833) and of Laure Fresneau, granddaughter of the “father of rubber” and “grandfather of the potato”.

2/ The Vichy regime

The Vichy regime, so called because it was based in the town, was an antisemitic, authoritarian, collaborationist and xenophobic regime that was the “government” of France during the occupation by the III Reich. It was headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain from 10th July 1940 until 9th August 1944.

3/ Jean Joachim Supéry

Jean Joachim Supéry (1905-1990) known as Jean Joachim was a French sculptor, a pupil of the sculptor François Pompon (1855-1933). He created the famous “Polar Bear” in Lens stone, a commission from the state in 1927.

4/ Victor Hugo and Marennes

In September 1843, on his way back from a trip to Spain in the company of his friend Juliette Drouet, Victor Hugo spent the last few happy moments of his life at the Café le National or Auberge de la Table Ronde, a former staging post situated at number 4 on the square. When he reached Rochefort on 9th September, while sitting at the Café de l’Europe, he learnt from the newspaper “Le Siècle” that his cherished daughter Léopoldine had drowned in a boating accident a week earlier: “I read. This was how I discovered that half of my life and my heart was dead…” he wrote later.

Saint-Pierre de Sales church

Known as Saint-Pierre-de-Sales (1), the medieval town that became Marennes (Maremnia) took the place of the Gallo-Roman village on the old Roman road. A Romanesque fortified church surrounded by a moat stood high in the centre of the town: mention was made of it in 1047 in the charter confirming the gift and foundation of the abbey of Sainte-Marie de Saintes; it was named as “Saint-Pierre-de-Sales”.
Attacked by the English during the 100 Years’ War (2), it was completely rebuilt at the end of the 15th century with a majestic flamboyant gothic gate belfry 83m high. It was described by Marshal Vauban (3) as “one of the most beautiful gothic constructions” in France; its architect is not known.
In 1602, after the Wars of Religion (4), the nave having been damaged by canon-fire, the church was again rebuilt, leaving just the gate belfry. The harmony of its proportions, its shapely silhouette, neither too heavy nor too spindly, the slight curve of its profile, completed by the exact connection of the levels with the perfection of the tower and spire make this one of the most beautiful works of its type. To fully enjoy it, admire it from the south side. Built on the current place Brassaud (5) the monument is supported by four square buttresses and is finished off by a platform from which an octagonal pyramid with a circular base is pierced by eight ogival doorways.
The spire has been the victim of lightning several times and the top was rebuilt in 1782. The iron cross that had been dislodged could not be replaced, doubtless because of its weight. It was listed as an historic monument in 1840. The tower acted as a lighthouse for many years: fires were lit on the platform to guide ships. During the Second World War, an observation post on the platform was used by the German military and then by the Free French (FFI).
The position and the remarkable height made it a seamark (6) for sailors. The edifice was restored notably in 1960 and 1961; work undertaken since the end of the 19th century was principally on the belfry. The tower can be climbed in summer. After 289 steps on a narrow spiral staircase, you have an exceptional view over the Marennes basin and on clear days of the Île d’Oléron, l’Île d’Aix, the Seudre bridge, La Cayenne channel, La Tremblade, Ronce-les-Bains, the marshes, the oyster maturing ponds…
The belfry is the highest in the département and is an icon for Marennes and contributes to the town’s fame. In 2018 and 2019, the church underwent treatment for watertightness and drainage to protect it against the effects of humidity. An archaeological survey prior to the works enable the occupation of the ground and the presence of any remains to be dated and identified. The excavations showed traces of religious buildings from the 11th century up to the church of today. The flamboyant-style belfry was the only part of the 15th century church to remain. During these works, a face carved in the stone was uncovered for the first time; it can be seen on the southern exterior between the first and second pillars of the belfry.

Further information

1/ Saint-Pierre-de-Sales
Saint Peter is the patron saint of fishermen and the origin of “Sales” can be found in the French word “sel” (salt) and “salines” referring to the saltmarshes that very early on were an important income for the town and its surroundings.

2/ The Hundred Years’ War

A succession of conflicts and truces between 1337 and 1453 that opposed the kingdom of France to the kingdom of England.

3/ Maréchal Vauban

Sébastien Le Prestre, marquis de Vauban, maréchal de France (1633-1707) : civil engineer, military architect, town planner, hydraulic engineer and essayist under Louis XIV. He built an “iron belt” for the kingdom with his eponymous forts (as at Brouage). Twelve of his fortifications are listed as UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.

4/ The Wars of Religion

Eight civil wars opposing Catholics and Protestants took place in the kingdom of France between 1562 and 1598.

5/ Father Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Brassaud (1805-1875)

An honorary canon, archpriest of Marennes and much appreciated by his parishioners, he died on 2nd April 1875 after a long and cruel agony; he served Marennes for 33 years. The Town Council commemorated his life by naming the square near the church after him, a way of giving homage to this man considered worthy of being retained in the collective memory.

6/ Seamark
A fixed point, easily identified and identifiable, the seamark is used by navigators to check their position in daytime and thus recognise or modify their geographical position. You could say that a seamark is to daytime what the lighthouse is to night.

Former protestant cemetery 

At the end of the 18th century and beginning of the 19th, several decrees and regulations (1) required that “cemeteries be moved outside a town or village’s walls”. At the time, Marennes had two cemeteries, the catholic next to the church and the protestant cemetery in the village of Aumône, today Place Roché.
After several warnings from the sub-prefect and a threat to close the cemetery in 1842, the first works for the new cemetery finally began in 1846; they included the construction of a wall to separate the tombs of the “faithful Catholics from the Protestants”. In the end, a hedge was planted, being more natural and much less expensive…
Once the “removals” had taken place, what was going to happen to the former cemeteries? An especial problem for the Protestants with their numerous tombs. While the former Catholic cemetery was situated in the town centre and thus safe from profanation, what was going to happen to that of the Protestants? In fact, in view of its location, there was no interest for the town and it could therefore be sold once the legal delays of preservation had been complied with.
Thus in 1860 a transaction between the Protestant clergy and the municipality of Marennes took place whereby the town undertook to never dispose of the former cemetery. It was agreed that no searches could take place for thirty years, that the walls would be replaced by benches similar to those surrounding the former Catholic cemetery and to sow grass after levelling the ground and removing the tombs and cypresses that remained.
In 1900, the remaining walls being in a parlous condition, the mayor suggested to the Protestants to rent the land, knock down the walls and establish plantations. The pastor accepted the proposal and a lease of eighteen years was drawn up. The commune still agreed not to undertake searches and it transformed the area into a public square, place Roché.

Further information 

1/ On the decrees and regulations

In 1719, a particularly virulent outbreak of scarlet fever led the parliament of Brittany to issue a decree on 16th August forbidding burials in the churches of the province and Rennes. On 21st December 1754, the parliament of Rouen issued a regulation that “forbade burials in churches, except for those that had the right to a tomb and required that graves be 4 feet in depth and 2 feet between each one.” In 1776, a royal declaration, the unique text of funerary legislation, was published by the monarchy of the Ancien Régime, pointing out the double danger for the population of burials inside churches and the presence of cemeteries inside built-up areas.

The beach and seamark of Marennes

From time immemorial, when approaching the coast, it has been essential to be able to locate one’s craft so as to be able to find the channel that leads to a port without mishap. These fixed points are known as seamarks and are easily identifiable easily distinguished. A seamark might be a monument such as the belltower of a church, a house, a rock or even several remarkable trees.

A fixed point, easily identified and identifiable, the seamark is used by navigators to check their position in daytime and thus recognise or modify their geographical position. You could say that a seamark is to daytime what the lighthouse is to night. Seamarks make up one third of the navigational markers of the coast along with buoys and beacons. Information on charts and instructions for navigators are always based on returning to port. The seamark on the beach at Marennes is used as a daytime alignment (1) (without beacons) to guide sailors to the Garrigue channel. It wasn’t until the French Revolution that a service of the Admiralty was created on 15th September 1792 with the responsibility for overseeing lighthouses, seamarks and beacons.
But with an increased volume of maritime traffic, Napoléon 1st created the Lighthouses and Beacons service as part of the Highways department on 7th March 1806 in order to better control them. One can put the date of construction of the seamark called “La Côte de Marennes” between 1864 and 1872, since it first appeared in the inventory in 1872 and was described as a “brickwork seamark in the shape of a windmill, painted in white”. In 1905, information was updated to show that the “Seamark of Marennes is to the west of Marennes, in dressed stone, 4m wide and 10m high and with a triangular gable on top”. The colours, the heights above ground and above high tide mark are also shown.

Further information

1/ Alignment of the seamark

It’s just a question of aligning the beacon at Barat with the seamark to follow a heading of 67.5° 5 (see the chart).

Marennes Plage

The shore of the Marennes Basin faces the shallow waters (2) of the inland sea around Oléron. On the lefthand side is Ronce-les-Bains on the Arvert peninsula between the Gironde and the Seudre. On the right is Saint-Trojan-les-Bains on the south of the île d’Oléron. Between the two is the notorious strait of Maumusson (3), famous for its shoals.
Building in this area dates from the 1960s. The artificial 5ha basin was created in 1998. The beach is thus protected by dunes: whatever the tide’s coefficient, it will always be possible to have a swim. This giant “pool” is fed by a system of pumps and by the natural flow of the tides. Each year, tests undertaken by the ARS confirm the water is of very good quality. The beach in much appreciated by families and children can bathe in security without the risks of currents and tidal pools.

Further information

2/ Shallow waters

A shallow maritime passage between in island close to the mainland and the mainland.

3/ Shoals of Maumusson

The name comes from Old French (Mauvaise Musse) that means “Wrong way”. Navigation is especially difficult and this is an area that has known many shipwrecks. It is feared by sailors because the waters of the Atlantic meet those around Oléron; the currents are powerful and the eddies characteristic of the maelstrom; breakers, especially in bad weather, that were so well described by Victor Hugo in 1843 in “Voyage aux Pyrénées” during his stay in the region:
“Listen to the roaring of the Maumusson strait that sailors can hear 15 leagues away. One of the navels of the sea, the waters of the Seudre, the Gironde, the important oceanic currents, others at the extreme southerly point of the île d’Oléron. Currents from four different directions on shifting sands that the sea piles up on the shore and thus creates a whirlpool. Any large ship that enters the strait is lost. Nothing can prevent the slow, terrible, fearful spiral that seizes the ship.”

Le château de la Gataudière

Le château de la Gataudière is a vast manor house blending the architectural styles of Louis XIV, the Regency and Louis XV; it is set in a park of 20ha, bordering former marshland. It is a unique dwelling with a facade that is projected from the centre crowned by a blind pediment.

During its construction, the château was initially the property of François Fresneau de la Richauderie (counsellor to king Louis XIV), then later of François de Chasseloup-Laubat (1), future commander and general of the army in Italy. His descendant married the great-grandson of Joachim Murat, marshal of France, king of Naples and the Two Sicilies. From this marriage was born Justin Napoléon Samuel Prosper Chasseloup-Laubat (2), whose statue is in the centre of the square that bears his name in the heart of Marennes. The château still belongs to the Murat de Chasseloup-Laubat family.
It was in 1749 that the château de la Gataudière, a spacious dwelling, was built close to Marennes. It was remodelled by its owner, François Fresneau de la Gataudière (3), an engineer and botanist of king Louis XV. During a journey to French Guyana, he discovered “hévéa”, better known as the rubber tree, which made him famous. At the end of the 18th century, one of his grand-daughters, Anne-Marie Julie inherited the family home and married François de Chasseloup-Laubat, whose descendants remain the owners today.
The park and the Louis XIV fountain were listed as historic monuments in 1948 and the park was listed on the preliminary inventory of noteworthy gardens. The château and the terrace were listed on 3rd March 1949.

Further information

1/ François Charles Louis

François Charles Louis, marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat (1753-1833) was a general in the army of the Revolution and Empire, senator and peer of France. During his exile in St Helena, Napoléon described him as “one of the best officers in his army, a man of great integrity and unequalled character”.

2/ Justin Napoléon Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat

Count, then marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat (1805-1873), he was minister of the navy and colonies then minister presiding the Council of State under Napoléon III; he was elected as representative of Charente-Inférieure to the parliament in 1871. He was president of the Geographical Society from 1864 until his death and a regular contributor to “La revue des deux Mondes”. He was the youngest son of General François de Chasseloup-Laubat (1754-1833) and Julie Fresneau, grand-daughter of the famous “father of rubber” and “grandfather of the potato”.

3/ François Fresneau de la Gataudière

François Fresneau de la Gataudière (1703-1770), was a military engineer, astronomer, mathematician, botanist, adventurer and member of the Academy of Sciences. He spent time in French Guyana where he supervised a variety of works, invented a sulphur bellows to eradicate the ants that ravaged the cacao trees and for the cassava plant, a shelling machine. He went to Cayenne where he discovered rubber which he researched extensively. He set up a laboratory in his château that he also used for research into sea salt, oyster-farming and the potato prior to Antoine Parmentier. He was not only the father of rubber but also the grandfather of the potato!

The church and fountain at Hiers

Saint-Hilaire church

The 12th century church of Saint-Hilaire was constructed on the former island of Hiers, close to the Mérignac canal. Initially, it was a simple priory church used just by monks before becoming a parish church for the whole of the Catholic community. It was connected to the château by a vaulted gallery.
All that remains of the initial edifice are three Romanesque pillars in the interior. The Romanesque sanctuary was almost completely rebuilt in the 15th century where a doorway (today walled up) shows an ogee gable (1) decorated with kale. The windows have kept their gothic tracery (2) notably that of the apse (3).
The church is rib vaulted. The church suffered much depredation during the Wars of Religion and now has just three bays. The southern side-aisle was renovated in the 17th century. In 1862, a façade was rebuilt, endowed with a belfry topped with a slate covered spire that contrasts with the red tiles of the nave.

Fontaine de Hiers (100 m on the right, rue Duc Elie)

In 1580, Bernard Palissy (4) suggested supplying Brouage with water from a source situated in the woods of Hiers. This project was finally accomplished in 1617-1618 by Martin de Barrière. In 1633, Cardinal Richelieu (5) enhanced the water provision system by the construction of manholes every 200m and two royal fountains, one of which has disappeared from the church at Brouage; the other is in Hiers. A master fountain builder from Paris and a builder from Brouage constructed them.

This fountain is of dressed stone against a supporting wall (6) of 4.20m. It is endowed with a dome and in the past showed the coats of arms of the king and Richelieu. The angles are rusticated (7) and each face is decorated with a horizontal banner on all sides with a panel of protruding tables. Above the moulding are found on three sides a pediment arch to the tympanum occupied by a shield (8). The south façade is pierced with just two openings of the edifice, a door topped by a window.
In the centre is a stone trough acting as a reservoir, a sort of retention basin holding 440 litres of water from the various sources round about. This water flows through two kilometres of lead pipes as far as Brouage. The network was regularly maintained until the end of the 18th century by an appointed operator. The use of pipes in a marshy area required frequent repairs that were more and more difficult (campaigns from 1723 to 1761). The pipes were replaced by the use of cisterns. The lead piping would eventually be recovered in 1805 by the army. Only the reservoir of Hiers survived and was used in about 1850 as a prison then a refuge for the destitute up to the First World War. It was listed as a historic monument in 1999.

Further information

1/ Gable

A carpenter’s term used to describe two pieces of sloping wood joined at the top.

2/ Tracery

The frame in dressed stone of a bay; this architectural technique largely developed with the gothic style that allowed the development of ever greater openings.

3/ Apse

The apse is the upper part of a church. The apse corresponds to the part of the cross on which the crucified Christ laid his head.

4/ Bernard Palissy (1510-1589)
Potter, enameller, painter, glassblower, writer and scholar, his artistic talent as ceramist is admired the world over. He converted to Protestantism and suffered numerous persecutions including imprisonment and even a death sentence; he managed to survive thanks to his activity of land-surveyor. He carried out a listing of the saltmarshes in Saintonge.

5/ Cardinal de Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu (1585-1642), cardinal (1622) and duc de Richelieu, was Louis XIII’s principal minister from 1624.

6/ Supporting wall
An interior load-bearing wall that creates a separation inside a building for reasons of construction, for example to reduce a too large range.

7/ Rusticated
A stone cladding that creates a protruding boss in relation to its edges.

8/ Shield
A shield is carved into the mass of a stone block.