Château de la Motte-aux-Bois

En un regard

Le château en bref

In the middle of the Forest of Nieppe, in the commune of Morbecque, the Château de la Motte-aux-Bois perpetuates a seigneurial site nearly a thousand years old. In 1075, the Count of Flanders, Robert the Frisian, had a fortress built there; in 1164, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, then in exile, stayed there. Dismantled after the Battle of Cassel in 1328, the stronghold passed to the Dukes of Burgundy around 1436–1437. It was rebuilt in the mid-17th century after the destruction of the wars, sold as national property in 1795, and then acquired by the de La Grange family, who kept it until 1962. Bombed during the Second World War, the château was rebuilt again around 1950. Masonry from the 13th century survives in the cellars, along with 15th-century vaults and pillars. The Chapelle Saint-Thomas-Becket, dating from 1831, received in 1928 the re-erected façade of Fort Gassion. The château today houses the Amaury de la Grange Aeronautical Institute.