If the castle of Bois Thibault looked terrible for selling off its stone and the roof falling in, then the castle of Bois Frou looked even worse. This castle was the site of magnificent water gardens and was renovated in Renaissance style, but there is little left to remind us of its former glory.
It sits beside a deep gorge through which runs a tributary of the Mayenne River. There remains a tower to the North East beside a wide drain at the end of the moat. During archaological survey works in 1966 an embalmed heart was discovered in the floor of this tower. There were no markings, no clue as to whose heart it was.
There are three family names associated with the castle, which was started in the 15th Century by the Bois Froult family, followed by the Chauvignes and the Madallans. It was the last family who are credited with developing the water gardens so it is tempting to imagine that the heart must belong to one of their romantic number.
I have always loved water lillies and have a long held ambition to visit the gardens of Marliac, the famed French aquaculturalist who developed an astounding number of new varieties. Perhaps I will get the opportunity in the summer of 2022?
Meanwhile I will have to get into conversation with the Association Culturel to discover whether any local historians have been able to decode more of the history of this site. The cows aren’t going to tell me anything!
14thcenturypoet 