The history of the Château de Gézaincourt
The history of our château began long before it was built, between 1844 and 1848. We must go back to 1605, when Marie de Bremen, Lady of Gézaincourt, gave her cousin Charles de Rambures, Governor of Doullens, her land and its outbuildings in exchange for an order “to build her a house at Gézaincourt for her retirement, with moats, and furnished with gardens, including ornamental gardens.” The Gézaincourt manor house was built.
The estate subsequently passed to the Fouquesolles family, then to the heirs of the Lordship of Bourdon, including Françoise Blin de Bourdon, Lady of Gézaincourt, who became Mother Saint Joseph, co-founder with Julie Billiart (canonized by Pope Paul VI) and second Superior General of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. She passed the estate to her brother Alexandre Blin de Bourdon, who was mayor of Amiens in 1816, Prefect of Oise, a member of parliament for the Somme and Prefect of Pas-de-Calais. His eldest daughter married Bon Albert Benoît Louis Lallart de Lebucquière, to whom the Gézaincourt estate was granted.
Marie de Bremen, Lady of Gézaincourt
Louis Lallart de Lebucquière
Louis Lallart de Lebucquière replaced the old manor house with the present château, built in the Directoire and Second Empire styles. He had a Gothic Revival chapel, in the style of the 13th century, built adjoining the château. It was inaugurated in 1848 by the Bishop of Amiens. Mr Lallart de Lebucquière used plans and drawings provided by Mr Jean-Baptiste Lassus, the renowned government architect and restorer of Notre-Dame de Paris.
It survived the German occupation unscathed, but was unfortunately destroyed in 1949 by the Central Cooperative of the Beaumont-en-Artois Miners' Association.
In 1936, the château passed into the hands of Mr de Vésian. After his death, his widow sold it in 1947 to the Houilleries Nationales du Nord et du Pas de Calais for their social programs, including holiday camps. They had the pond in front of the château filled in.
It later became the property of the CAF of Valenciennes, still with the aim of hosting holiday camps.
Pediment coat of arms:
- Coat of arms of Viscount Blin de Bourdon: Argent, three sable trefoils, arranged 2 and 1, accompanied by three sable martlets in chief.
- Coat of arms of Bon, Albert, Benoît Louis Lallart de Lebucquière: Or, accompanied by three sable stars arranged facing forward and a sable crescent at the point.
