Champ-de-Bataille Castle loop from Villez-sur-le-Neubourg

03:54

14.8km

120m

Hiking

Moderate hike. Good fitness required. Easily walkable paths. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: August 20, 2026

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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2.19 km

Champ-de-Bataille Castle

Highlight • Castle

Bernhard the Dane is considered the progenitor of the House of Harcourt; he was a follower of Wilhelm Longsword, Rollo's son. Many sources claim that he took part in the Battle of Sainte-Opportune-du-Bosc, where William Longsword fought against Robert the Dane in 935 and which gave his name to the Champ-de-Bataille. However, this is historically unlikely, as Robert the Dane died in 1037 and would therefore have been either very young in 935 or well over 100 years old. Therefore, other sources assume that this legend was invented and that the square is called Champ-de-Bataille because it once belonged to a gentleman named Bataille.
When the members of the Fronde were arrested or sent to the province by Jules Mazarin in 1650, one of the friends of the Prince of Condé who was sent to the province was Count Alexandre de Créquy-Bernieulle (1628–1703). He had the castle Le Champ de Bataille built between 1653 and 1665.
After the death of Alexandre de Créquy-Bernieulle, his nephew Gabriel-René, Marquis of Mailloc, inherited the castle. He married Claude-Lydie d'Harcourt in July 1720, and after his death in 1724 the estate passed to his nephew Anne-François d'Harcourt, Duke of Beuvron (1727–1797). During the French Revolution the castle was looted. In 1802 the castle was still owned by the Beuvron branch of the Harcourt family. Thomas Thornton wrote about the castle at the time, saying it was beautiful and that it had been offered to him for sale, but it had no water supply and so he didn't want it. In 1805 it was sold.

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