Château d’Uxelles

History

Uxelles was held in the 10th century by lords linked to Brancion, and around 1070 Bernard Gros de Brancion built a fortress here to assert his power against Cluny. In 1259 his ruined descendant sold the lordship to the duke of Burgundy, who in 1263 gave it to the jurist Jean de Blanot. Around 1490 Philibert Magnien repaired and embellished the living quarters.

In 1560 Pétrarque du Blé, lord of Cormatin, acquired Uxelles by exchange and carved his motto and the date 1567 on a fireplace that still survives. His son Antoine left Uxelles to build the new château of Cormatin, and in 1618 the lordship was raised to a marquisate. The du Blé marquis d'Uxelles included Nicolas, a Marshal of France who died in 1730.

In 1812 Charles-Hippolyte de La Chapelle, later a squadron commander in the royal guard, bought the estate and pulled down the ruined outer court and the keep. In 1835, advised by the Versailles architect du Thil, the family cleared the remaining medieval buildings and built a new house on the site of the old courtyard of honour. The La Chapelle family still owns Uxelles.

Architecture

The medieval castle had two concentric oval walls. The outer wall, 2.65 metres thick, had four gates and a chapel of Saint George, while the inner wall enclosed a seven-storey pentagonal tower, a round keep and the main lodging. All this has gone. Today a long rectangular house between two short wings, with a curved pediment over its central bay, crowns the spur.