The restoration of the château

In all likelihood, the château de la Forge was originally built by the Chèze family (or Chièze family) sometime in the 17th century. An old bell on the west terrace of the property (by the swimming pool) is engraved with a short poem in French dated 1690. The poem reads:

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"Au son de mon harmonie,
Vous, ouvriers, je vous convie
De venir et ne tardez pas
Pour prendre votre repas.

Mais après, je prétends ici
Que vous travailliez bien aussi.
Monsieur Chièze m’a fait faire
Car de cœur pour cette affaire."

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We used our limited knowledge of French to translate it ... and reads like this:

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“At the sound of my harmony

I invite you labourers

to come without delay

to take your meal.

But later on I would want

you to work well too.

Mr Chieze asked me do so

from the bottom of his heart.”

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The west wing of the house, fully built in stone and showing beautiful masonry work on its Western facade, was probably the earliest structure of, at the time, a smaller house on the grounds. Pierre Chèze is reported to have extended the property probably in or around 1705, and the year 1736 is engraved on top of the first floor windows on the West wing, suggesting work done to that part of the house in the early 18th century.

 

Since its origins, the château has experienced several reforms. The coat of arms of the Chèze et Saleneuve family, owners of the château until late in the 20th century, was added at some point in time and can still be seen on both the billiard room’s fireplace as well as on top of the main entrance facing North. A final major restauration was done by the same family in or around the year 1900.

 

By 2018, when we acquired this typically French château and the surrounding estate, the house was in need of major work. The main building had to be rewired and replumbed, a new boiler and central heating system were installed and en-suite bathrooms were added to every bedroom.

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The remains of the old forge

At the time when the château was first built in the 17th century, the head of the family was the ‘maître de forges’ associated to the Château de Montréal (14 km East from here). In addition to managing the forge named La Seyrarie (in Issac, the small village next to the Château de Montréal), Mr Chèze managed two more forges in this area including one forge located in the grounds around the château, and another one a few kilometres further South from here. The purpose of building the château on the grounds was, most likely, to accommodate Mr Chèze and his family when they spent time in the estate. Only in later years, the house become the main, full time residence of the family.

 

The original forge located in these grounds (often referred to as la forge du Pont due to its proximity to Pont-St-Mamet) has long disappeared. However, it used local labour, wood from the rich, surrounding forests, and iron ore from the region in order to build cannons and cannonballs throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Two of the cannons built on site have survived the centuries and can still be found at the Hôtel National des Invalides in Paris ... or so we have been told since we are yet to organise a trip to find them!

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By the end of the 18th century, the increasing demand for agricultural land is having an impact on the surrounding forests and therefore on the supply of wood. Ultimately, the forge was forced to close. Attempts to revive the ruined forge at the beginning of the 19th century seemed to have been of limited success. Instead, a ‘cremerie’ o ‘fromagerie’ (a butter and cheese factory) seem to have been built on the site (just South of the property) producing and selling fine Camembert-style cheeses for a period of time. Some other enterprising initiatives have been launched in the estate over time, including the production of wine (after all, we are just within touching distance of the Pecharmant wine ‘appellation’) and tobacco (the leaves of which used to hang from the ceiling of the nearby barns).

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At its peak, the château was the centre of a estate covering more than 400 hectares of productive land. With the exception of a few hectares of hay fields and the many fruit trees around the property, most of the productive land is long gone. However, there are still some 32 acres of fields, forests and prairies around the château de la Forge, as well as the two barns just North of the main house which act as permanent reminders of the entrepreneurial past of the estate. Both the old forge as well as the fromagerie have long disappeared, and the vines and the tobacco plantation are long gone, but the system of canals (some of them still with water) and tunnels South of the château remain as the last silent witnesses of what was, back in time, quite an industrious estate.

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