Association de Sauvegarde du

CHATEAU DE GAVRAY

THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE DUNGEON

Construction technology and materials

The south-west corner was leaned against the wall of the levelled tower. The level of leveling of the tower corresponds to the level of occupation of the keep. Above, the quoins are made by means of well-cut blocks of greenish Cambrian sandstone of the  "Upper Campeaux Slabs" type. The other lower corners are made of the same material: they were built at the same time.
This corner of the keep is therefore not an isolated repair.

The south and west walls are clearly built on the level wall of the tower. Finally, for the west wall:
* The foundations of the keep are dug in the red gravel of the embankment:

. or, there was a foundation trench, into which a mixture of stones and mortar was poured, . or, the wide trench made it possible to build the wall in elevation. This is the case for the south wall and the southern part of all the other walls. In this case, the trench is filled with another material that can be used to date the construction of the wall. The surface of the red gravel of the keep's embankment, as observed during the excavation, marks the exact boundary between the upper part of the walls, which is obviously built in elevation, and the lower part which constitutes the foundations, dug into the embankment. Where there are anomalies in the embankment, along the walls, these are the consequence of the needs of the construction.

These construction trenches cut not only the red gravel from the backfill, but also the kitchen layer mentioned earlier. This is particularly evident on the south wall of the west room.

In fact, by observing the base of the walls (up to the first possible level of occupation), we can see that the east wall as well as the shear wall are leaning against the south wall and are therefore posterior to it. Then, above ground, the construction of all the walls (4 exterior walls and a shear wall) was simultaneous.

Another element of the dating of the construction is given to us outside the keep, on the east platform, under the building is of light construction described in the next chapter "the building is". This building rested on a layer of clay that masked a masons' working surface: rolled gravel, coarse sand, more or less thick layers of mortar or lime, debris of stone facing the keep.

Two coins have been unearthed under this layer of clay:
* a denier tournois of 1421,
* an illegible copper coin, but which seems to be dated to the end of the Middle Ages.
The following order can be established for the construction of the walls:
* south wall, lower part,
* east wall, built simultaneously with the south wall from level -2.3,
* lower part of the shear wall,
* filling of the hollow (backfill),

* Simultaneous construction of the wall and the shear wall (from level -1.8).

The first traces of occupation

Excavations inside the keep have revealed occupations that predate the constructions:
- under the foundations the residues of an occupation layer from the eleventh century,-
 a kitchen layer.

See the dungeon page.

The English Dungeon

The texts clearly indicate that after the siege of 1378, the castle was razed to the ground in 1390 and then occupied by the English in 1418. The chronicle of Mont Saint-Michel reveals to us "... considerable works" for "the completion of the keep of Gavray in 1444".
Thus the keep, as it appears today, is probably an English construction of the fifteenth century.
Is it any wonder to see a square keep built at this time? No, it was built throughout the Middle Ages. According to M. de Bouard (Manuel d'Archéologie médiévale - Paris 1975):
* page 123 (the rectangular keep) "They were built here and there until the end of the Middle Ages; no doubt even this type enjoyed a revival of favour from the fourteenth century onwards... ",

* page 126 "On the other side of the Channel, where the clear predominance of the circular keep lasted even less time than in our country... »

Occupying the Dungeon

What was the destination of the ground floor of the keep? There is no evidence to say this, as no occupation layer has been uncovered. Above the mortar mixing areas, only layers were found that had been badly disturbed by the demolitionists. How can we explain this lack of an occupation layer? Several hypotheses:
* the keep was completed shortly before the liberation of Normandy (works reported in 1444) and has hardly been used,
* the ground floor was not used and the occupation was on a floor above (no opening at this level),
* The demolitionists have deeply disturbed the surface layers.

In fact, there can be a combination of these three possibilities. It is therefore impossible to put forward any hypothesis concerning the use of the keep, or its elevation.

The roof

It is likely that there were two roofs juxtaposed in view of the presence of a shear wall. Indeed, this type of interior separation exists when the width of the keep exceeds the maximum span of a frame entry.

Coverage

The numerous fragments of flat tiles discovered allow us to imagine the roofing mode: these are flat, rectangular tiles, 28x18x1 to 1.5 cm glazed. They have a hole at a higher angle and on the back, near the upper edge, a heel was used to attach them to the slat. They were held in place by iron nails (found in large quantities).

Paving

It should also be noted that no fragments of paving tiles were found. This remark takes on its full interest after the excavation of the rooms at the eastern end of the enclosure, where fragments of cobblestones were found in considerable quantities.

Coatings

No fragments of wall plaster were found. The keep therefore did not represent any residential character. It probably had an essentially defensive role.

External appearance

The exterior appearance of the keep must have been quite neat. A few facing stones preserved at the base allow us to imagine it, they are:
* the quoins of the inner corners, greenish-coloured Cambrian sandstones,
* the chamfered upper corner of the few intact stones.

These facing stones mark, on the three exposed walls (the south wall adjoining the surrounding wall), a horizontal level which must have been that of the platform built around the keep and which has been the site of various constructions.

The Abandonment of the Dungeon

The list of captains of the castle is known to us until 1500 by the "Gallia Regia".
In a note in the "Chronicles of Mont Saint Michel" (published by S. Luce in 1879, pages 82 and 83), there is an allusion to the keep for the year 1467. It refers  to the "captain of the castle of Gavray, residing in the keep of the said castle".
A captain is still attested in June 1609 (cf. "Inventories and documents of the national archives", volume VIII, reign of Henri IV, volume II). He was "Jean Freschinet, archer of the bodyguards and captain of the castle of Gavray".
Finally, if we are to believe a confession quoted by P. Berruyer  in "La Manche" 1970 volume II page 85: in 1615, Giles des Isles declared himself "captain and hereditary guardian of the keep of Gavray, of all antiquity, now ruined".
This is the last known mention of the keep.

The castle was then abandoned, then handed over to the demolitionists.

It was in the seventeenth century, it seems, that waste pickers worked on the site. All the large stones were extracted from this ideal quarry. They left only the smallest and the fragments of mortar, either at the foot of the walls or in the centre of the rooms. Some coins were lost in the course of the work. The following were discovered in these layers of destruction in and around the keep:
- 8 coins of the seventeenth century: 4 liards of France, 3 double tournaments and a double of Sedan,
- a few fragments of a white clay pipe,
- knife blades,

-etc....

But the demolitionists disturbed the existing ground, bringing to the surface older objects (coins from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In these superficial layers ceramics were very abundant, characterized by a very high proportion of sandstone.