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Que composent ici dans la douce lumière
Le Présent, le Passé, les arbres et la pierre,
Tous ensemble penchés sur l´eau vive qui fuit.”
André Corthis, Livre d´Or du Château d´Acquigny, 1933.
Reverie along the water and through history
This historical site, set at the confluence of the Eure and the Iton Rivers, benefits from a landscape of magnificent hills and the mild climate of the Eure Valley. This peaceful setting, the gentle accompaniment of the sound of water, and the harmony of the ever-changing colors of the seasons all contribute to the charm of a walk through this park.
The scenery has changed much since the mid-19th century. The hills bordering the Eure, which protect the château's grounds from the cold winds of the north and east, were once covered with vineyards, orchards of cherry and chequer trees, and pastures. This order has yielded to a natural growth of trees and bushes, which imbue the landscape with Romanticism and also set off the Renaissance château beautifully.
Trees dating back to the time of the vast French formal garden remain, among them commanding lime trees and horse chestnut trees. Other features that remain include the orangery and potager walls, both built with rose bricks, a grand perspective into the distance, and the general layout of perpendicular canals around the potager.
At the close of the 18th century, a gently winding river was added to this network of rectilinear canals. In its pools of water, the château and trees of rare botanical species and spectacular size are reflected.
Inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Reveries of the Solitary Walker and by Goethe, the Romantic bridge, path of rocks, impressive waterfall, cascades, and benches scattered throughout the park all urge the visitor to linger longer in this reverie by the water, in history.
A botanical landscape park
Envisaged and brought to reality at the end of the 18th century, this French landscape park was designed to set off the château and to beautify the site. The soft curves of the park and the variation of lawns, groves of trees, flowering shrubs, and water form a pleasing and harmonious scenery. The combination of warmth and plentiful water at this site allows many plants from hot regions to be planted directly in the ground and has also encouraged the unusual development of a variety of trees, exceptional for their size and rarity: plane trees reaching up to 47.5 meters in height or up to 8 meters in circumference, European black pines, redwoods, bald cypresses, copper beeches, Japanese pagoda trees given by the famed botanist Jussieu to Président d'Acquigny in 1768...
This diversity of species has been refreshed with each new planting: cedars from Lebanon, the Atlas Mountains, and the Himalaya, honey locusts, tulip trees from Virginia, stone pines, citrus trees planted in the open ground, white mulberry trees native to China, hackberry trees, strawberry trees from the Mediterranean, metasequoias and ginkgos (two prehistoric species), Japanese Judas-trees, and numerous varieties of birch trees among others.
The potager: overflowing with color and with fruit
The walls of the potager stand out clearly against the backdrop of hills in this bucolic landscape. This grand potager of around 2.5 acres is particularly exceptional because it is surrounded by canals as well as by high, sturdy walls made with rose bricks and capped with peaked roofs of slate. These roofs are supported by an oaken framework. The unique double insulation of water and walls around the potager creates a microclimate very favourable to developing fruits in the already gentle clime of the Eure Valley. The walls of the potager are adorned with imposing espaliered pear trees, with up to 28 branches carefully arrayed against the wall. These pear trees, some over 200 years old, alternate with flowers planted along the walls, which add splashes of color both inside and outside the potager.
The restoration of the potager began with its surrounding walls and their roofing and continued with the restoration of the canals. A very beautiful technique using planted willow cuttings woven together to fortify the canal banks adds to the interest of the potager. Flowers again grace the potager, in flowerbeds and along the walls, and rows of berries, vegetables, melons and gourds (and other plants of the family Cucurbitaceae) have slowly been returned to the garden. A garden of aromatic plants is in place, and a garden of medicinal plants is soon to follow. Sheltered by the potager's high walls, whose rose bricks also speed the ripening of their fruits, peach trees, fig trees, a feijoa (a tree producing a fruit related the guava) from Brazil, citrus trees planted in open ground, and other fruit trees all flourish in this orchard.
The warm atmosphere created by the rose bricks, the beauty of the potager itself, and its setting against the wooded hills make this garden a place of magic when touched by the rays of the setting sun.
The orangery and its fragrant embrace
The church, petit château, and orangery form a beautiful architectural ensemble, and the imposing slate roofs of the château in the background add to the beauty of this setting. In the spring and summer, a collection of potted citrus plants border the pathway in front of the orangery, soaking up the sun and enhancing the pleasure of a stroll through this corner of the park.
At sunset, the fading sun bathes the bricks in soft light, creating a warm rose-orange glow and an enchanting moment not to be missed
Map of the romantic park
