Château de Kerjean

{{Infobox building

| name = Château de Kerjean

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| image = Le château de Kerjean - La façade Est.jpg

| image_alt = Aerial view

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| caption = Aerial view

| map_type = France

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| building_type = Fortified château (manor house)

| architectural_style = Renaissance style

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| location = Saint-Vougay, Brittany, France

| coordinates = {{coord|48.5805|-4.1472|region:FR|display=inline,title}}

| start_date = 1540s

| completion_date = 1590s

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| grounds_area = 19–20 hectares

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| designations = Monument historique

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| website = {{Official website|http://www.cdp29.fr}}

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Château de Kerjean is a 16th-century fortified chateau (manor house) located close to the town of Saint-Vougay, in the Finistère department of Brittany, France.{{cite web |url= http://www.cdp29.fr/en/presentation-kerjean-infos-pratiques | title= Château de Kerjean – Official Site – Practical Information |publisher=General Council of Finistère (local government) |accessdate=3 September 2014 }}

It was originally built for members of the Barbier family (later titled as Marquis de Kerjean) between the 1540s and 1590s.{{Base Mérimée|PA00090442 |Château de Kerjean and Breton Museum}} The chateau was damaged in the 1790s during the French Revolution, and fell into further disrepair during the 19th century.

The building was taken into state care in 1911 and restored in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Standing in a 20-hectare park, the house, park and some out-lying structures (including a large dovecote) are open to the public.{{cite web |url= http://www.cdp29.fr/en/presentation-kerjean-le-parc |title= Chemins du patrimoine en Finistère – Kerjean – Park |publisher=General Council of Finistère (local government) |accessdate=3 September 2014 }}

History

Finistère was a thriving agricultural area in the 16th century,{{cite web | url = http://www.brittanytourism.com/things-to-do/all-activities/chateau-de-kerjean/ | title = Brittany Tourism – Things to Do – Kerjean Château | publisher = Brittany Regional Tourism Committee | archivedate = 4 September 2014 | archiveurl = https://archive.today/20140904112712/http://www.brittanytourism.com/things-to-do/all-activities/chateau-de-kerjean/ | access-date = 4 September 2014 | url-status = dead}} and the Barbier family built a fortified house on their estate lands close to Saint-Vougay.{{cite web |url= http://www.cdp29.fr/en/presentation-kerjean-le-chateau-de-kerjean | title= Château de Kerjean – Official Site – Home |publisher=General Council of Finistère (local government) |accessdate=3 September 2014 }} The building followed contemporary fashions and included elements of Renaissance architecture of the house itself, with a slightly less common bastioned and casemated external defensive wall.

The manor house was the hub of an active agricultural estate for several centuries, before becoming somewhat neglected during the 17th century.{{cite book |last=Arlaux |first=Claire |date=2011 |title=Le château de Kerjean : un château Renaissance en Bretagne |publisher=Chemins du patrimoine en Finistère (Government publication) |isbn=9782843465406 |language=French }}

Following a marriage between the Barbier and Coatanscour families, the estate and house experienced some growth in the 18th century.{{cite web |url= http://www.saint-vougay.fr/son-histoire.htm |title=Saint-Vougay – Son histoire – Château de Kerjean |publisher=Commune de Saint Vougay | language=French |archivedate=6 October 2014 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101717/http://www.saint-vougay.fr/son-histoire.htm }} However, during the French Revolution, the Marquise de Coatanscour was arrested, imprisoned and guillotined in Brest, and the estate and chateau forfeited to the republic.

Serving as a military garrison after the Revolution, during which time the building fell into significant disrepair, the house was sold to the Brilhac family in 1802. Several damaged sections of the house were further dismantled in this period – with lead and stone sold as building material – before the Forsanz-Coatgoureden family took control.

In 1911 the French state bought the chateau, classified the site as a historic monument, and from the 1980s to the early 2000s restored the house and surrounds.{{cite web | url=http://www.culturecommunication.gouv.fr/content/download/23443/197874/file/kerjean.pdf |title=Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Bretagne – Château de Kerjean |publisher=Direction régionale des affaires culturelles de Bretagne | language=French |accessdate=4 September 2014 }}