56 Les jardins du Manoir d’Eyrignac
One of the ‘places to visit’ within easy reach of the Quercy area.
Article by Angela Clohessy
beautifully prepared, prize winning 18 century classical French garden with many water features and displays every shade of green. Yews, box trees, hornbeams and cypress trees are the main species in the garden.
T
It is the sheer volume of topiaries which creates the essence of Eyrignac: plant sculptures, rooms of greenery, box embroideries, and borders in the French style. There seems to be no limit to the diversity of shapes, which nonetheless still remain in harmony with the architectural lines of the Manoir and the area of 200 hectares kept in its natural state which surrounds this jewel of a garden.
The Gardens of Eyrignac began during the eighteenth century by Louis-Antoine Gabriel de la Calprenède. The estate has remained in the family of Sermadiras de Pouzols de Lile and the the Gardens of the Manoir d'Eyrignac have been handed down by sons and daughters for the past 500 years: 22 generations have followed one another since the first castel or noble dwelling was built.
he gardens of Eyrignac are filled with greenery, nestling in the heart of Périgord Noir. This is a
The present Manor house was rebuilt by Antoine de Costes de la Calprenède in the XVIIth Century on the ruins of the former dwelling. The first gardens were designed in the XVIIIth Century on the initiative of Louis-Antoine Gabriel de la Calprenède (the great-grandson of Antoine), who was more blessed by fortune: these were gardens in the French style, inspired by those of the villa of Italy, as taste dictated at that time. They were completely revised in the XIXth Century to follow the new fashion, and thus became an English-style park.
In time, the French taste for the formal gave way to the influence of the contemporary English style, as a softer, more eclectic approach to both layout and style. Of these earlier schemes nothing remains but a scattering of decorative sculptures and the stone-built chapel, summer-house and dovecote. And, of course, le Manoir itself, a serene beauty constructed from rich, golden Sarlat stone.
Please mention The Quercy Local when responding to adverts.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64