Jardins du château de Lorrière

Château de Lorrière, watchtower over the Marconne. Self-guided tour - with commentary on request - of the gardens and exterior of the 15th-century Château de Lorrière, overlooking the small Marconne valley. Walks to the menhir and dolmen, and to the old Pichon mill. On Heritage Days, there will be an exhibition of paintings by artists who are friends of the site, and a dressage display with the magnificent Friesian horses owned by Jacques and Anita Aubry, whose Graffard stud adjoins the Lorrière estate. Chateau de Lorrière is on the exact border between the Sarthe and Maine et Loire departments, between Le Lude and Noyant. On the Sarthe side, the terrace of the Château de Lorrière, dominated by the hexagonal tower of the 15th-century dwelling, reveals the outlines of the former feudal site, with its tall pigeon loft in the background. After the Hundred Years' War, Marguerite de Lorrière had her manor house built in the style of the residences built by King René of Anjou to raise the country from its ruins; the Château de Baugé bears witness to this. Lorrière was extended in the 19th century by the Bernard de la Frégeolière family, who inherited the Monden de Lorrière estate in 1835. The perimeter wall was knocked down, opening up to the light of the Marconne valley. The chapel houses two stained glass windows by master glazier Auguste Alleaume, from Laval. On the Maine et Loire side, standing guard at the entrance to the estate, a menhir and a dolmen testify to the ancient settlement of the area, which was served by an ancient Roman road.