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Heritage
Urval is an authentic Périgourdin village; the traditionally
restored houses, the fortified church and the communal bread
oven are typical of a Périgourdin, medieval village.
The 14th century communal or ‘banal’ bread oven dates from,
and provides a rare illustration of, the feudal period. The
inhabitants of the village, subject to the authority and
benefiting from the protection of the Seigneur or the parish,
used the oven but paid taxes to do so. There being only one
oven, being ‘banned’ from using it meant that the person being
punished had no other means of baking bread. There existed,
along the same lines, a communal or ‘banal’ mill. |
