Château de l'Épine

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de l'Épine is a fortified farm in the commune of Agonges, in the Allier department. The seigneury is mentioned as early as 1322, when it belonged to Étienne Boutefeu; it then passed to the Saint-Aubin family from the mid-15th to the mid-17th century, and to Charles Legendre in 1688. The Marquis Gilbert-Charles Legendre, ruined by speculation linked to Law's System, had to sell the estate between 1749 and 1751. The present building, dating mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries, forms an almost perfect quadrilateral around an enclosed courtyard, surrounded by water-filled moats that still function and flanked by corner towers. It is one of the few well-preserved examples of a fortified farm in the Bourbonnais. A private property, it was listed as a historic monument by decree of 5 March 1992 and now houses a restaurant; the exterior (courtyard, moats and façades) can be visited freely in season, while the interior remains reserved for the owners.