Pouillé

It's quite amazing to a man who grew up in a city designed in 1913 (and whose oldest building dates to 1833) that I am now surrounded by hundreds of buildings built more than 500 years ago. This may also include part of our house.

Because there are so many old buildings we are constantly stopping to investigate and photograph places we catch glimpses of. But also because they are so common they may be relatively undervalued locally as historic structures, and information about them may not be easy to find.

Take, for instance, the farm of Pouillé, near Tournan Saint Pierre. I first saw last year it as I cycled past with TimB, who pointed it out. I was surprised, because I'm pretty certain I had been down that road before but never noticed it. A couple of weeks ago Susan and I drove past, and this time I remembered to stop and take photos.

This is all I have managed to find out. It's from the lieux dits de touraine blog, translated from french.

"The Grand-Pouillé private farm, a former noble residence dating from the 14th and 15th centuries, is built of Brenne sandstone (or grison). It has a massive circular tower housing a stone staircase. The entrance door features a pointed arch and jambs adorned with prismatic mouldings. Inside, in the corridor, we can see a fragment of the mantelpiece of a fireplace that has been cut through by a partition. A very splayed loophole illuminates a vast cellar. The lower part of the gate's pillars is decorated with lozenges. This place was a fief under the barony of Preuilly. Its earliest known owner was Jean de Chauvigny. He was succeeded by the d'Aloigny du Poitou family."