Hacqueville (Canton of Etrepagny, Eure) Shell-Keep

    We know little of the history of this fortification, apart from the fact that it was handed over by Henry II Plantagenet to the king Louis the Younger in 1168. Its interest lies above all in the fact that this is probably one of the best-preserved shell keeps in the whole of the Norman region.
The site known as the “Old Castle” is on a man-made mound of earth, seven metres across, which can still be seen. The summit presents a broadly circular shape of 53 m in diameter. Its perimeter was surrounded by a wall (12th century) some of the remains of which are incorporated into the battlements of the farm which now occupies it.
In the centre of the platform, 8 or 9 metres down, there was a cellar with four compartments, which was entered via a staircase with a right-angled bend in it and which was lit by a basement window.

Bibliography

- Coutil L., Découvertes archéologiques dans le département de l’Eure, Recueil de la société libre d’agriculture, des sciences, arts et Belles-Lettres de l’Eure, VIe série, X, 1912, p. 29-51, spécialement p. 47-48.
- Doranlo R., Camps, enceintes, mottes et fortifications antiques du département de l’Eure, Bulletin de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie, 1919-1920, 34, p. 163.
- Baume A., Les châteaux-forts et leur contexte historique dans la région des luttes franco-normandes (911-1204), Mémoire de maîtrise, Université de Rouen, ex. dactyl. cons. aux Arch. dép. Seine-Maritime (1mi 993), 1975, p. 77.
- Verdier F., Edifices fortifiés du canton d’Etrepagny, Nouvelles de l’Eure, 85, 1982-1983, p. 7.
- Inventaire général des monuments et richesses de la France. Indicateur du patrimoine architectural de l’arrondissement des Andelys, s.l.n.d., n° 642.