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A brief
history of Villefranche de Lonchat and its surrounds :
Situated in the Périgord, there is a pretty canton which goes
largely un-visited by tourists and is relatively unknown even to
many Périgourdins. It is called Villefranche de Lonchat and is
situated between the Isle and Dordogne rivers on the edges of
the Bordeaux region. It forms a natural link between two
different areas with different cultures : to the west, its stony
hillsides are planted with vines whereas to the east the
landscape is drawn of fields and pastures. Here and there emerge
small areas of woodland - descendants of a distant ancestor, the
Double forest. The woodland areas are larger towards the
Périgourdin side of the canton. Streams run through the valleys
joining the neighbouring Isle or the gentle Lidoire. The latter
is a small river with an important historical past. It runs
through or around the canton before joining the Dordogne at
Castillon-la-Bataille in the Gironde. The canton boasts rustic,
hilly landscapes where villages, perched on rocky outcrops, have
magnificent views over a broad horizon.
Prehistoric man has left a wealth of evidence of his presence in
this area and the plough regularly digs up remains of
Gallo-Roman buildings, while it is clear that medieval life took
place predominantly on the summits or slopes of the region’s
many hills. Priories at Lopchac, Montpeyroux, St Méard de Gurson
and Carsac led to the creation of parishes. There remain, from
this era of constructive faith (despite so much earlier
destruction), three Romanesque churches particularly worthy of
visit : Montpeyroux for its apse, St Martin de Gurson for its
richly carved facade and Carsac whose overall, beautifully
conserved, architecture, is of a quiet but striking beauty.
Villefranche, a late 13th century bastide built by Edward I of
England, succeeded the original parish of Lopchac whose church
was rebuilt in the 14th century at the same time as the chapel
inside the bastide. These two Gothic sanctuaries with their
simple, robust appearance devoid of any carvings or sculpture,
bear witness to an era where both counsel and inhabitants of the
new township had very limited means at their disposal but where
all worked with one heart towards the creation of a new church.
The medieval example of collective labour inspired the villagers
to do the same in the 1960s and work together to renovate their
chapel. Today it is powerfully evocative as it stands in its
original nudity. Visitors to the church will not go away
disappointed.
It may appear surprising that, unlike many bastide towns,
Villefranche has not conserved its walls, gates and other
historic features but it must be remembered that this border
region was more thoroughly devastated than many others by the
English wars and later the religious ones. The construction of
several roads during the 19th century destroyed any last
remaining aspects of these historical features. The Lidoire,
which first separated Seigneuries from one another and then
English Aquitaine from the Périgord, has not always flowed in
the gentle shade of the forests. Fortresses, such as the
neighbouring Puynormand and Puy-Chalus, or the Château de Gurson
dominating the parish of Carsac from its110m vantage point,
regularly sent out troops to battle, destroying farms and crops
in the process. The famous battle of Castillon where Jean
Bureau’s artillery with its back to the Lidoire conducted such a
marvellous battle must have made the entire canton tremble.
Devastated once again by the bloody battles of the 16th century,
the priories were all destroyed. In the 17th century, the Count
of Gurson, Fréderic de Foix, founded a new one in the parish of
St Martin de Gurson but it did not survive the torment of the
Revolution.
These times of trial and tribulation were followed by periods of
patient, hard work and intense activity thanks to which life
took hold again in the countryside. Rural activity reached its
peak in the 18th and 19th centuries when many varied and skilled
trades grew up alongside existing farms. Water-mills and
tile-works sprung up along the banks of the Isle and,
particularly, the non-navigable Lidoire. A pottery-works
established at Montpeyroux absolutely thrived circa 1820. A wide
variety of crops were added to the existing vines whose
high-quality wines were much valued and to a certain extent
exported to Holland.
However, putting aside the centuries with the saddest history,
let us remember instead that King Henry of Navarre frequently
rode along our paths and through our woods on his way to visit
his de Gurson cousins, or his friend Montaigne or simply from
his château at Puynormand towards St Foy or Bergerac through his
Villefranche Seigneurie. It is a little known fact that the
fervently Catholic Seigneurs of Gurson devoted themselves
entirely to the royal cause and to the Huguenot King of Navarre.
Four of them were killed at the end of the 16th century fighting
under the Béarnais banner. On the other hand, everyone remembers
Suzanne-Henriette de Foix de Candale, Lady of Gurson during the
late 17th century and famous for her piety and her care of the
poor. She founded a hospital for the poor on her land at Montpon.
Like most of the French countryside the canton of Villefranche
de Lonchat has fallen victim to modern life and
industrialisation. Increasing difficulties in farming inevitably
lead to a rural exodus. The nicely established wine co
operatives of Villefranche-Minzac and Carsac-St Martin de Gurson
are suffering from a fall in market prices and stiff competition
from foreign wines when vines account for a majority of the
canton’s agricultural output and produce excellent red and white
wines.
The region is, however, entirely suitable to the development of
tourism with its healthy, fresh air, excellent road network,
delightful walks to pretty, Romanesque churches, along the
Lidoire river, around interesting sites or to the Matecoulon
manor house at Montpeyroux. Some might prefer fishing in the
Isle at Moulin Neuf or in the shady tranquillity of the Lidoire
while others will rather go on trips to Montaigne’s Château, to
Montcaret, St Emilion and Bordeaux or towards Montpon and the
Double Forest or along the Isle valley and into the Périgord.
Visitors will find good, honest hotels, hearty meals and local
wines at Villefranche, St Martin de Gurson, St Méard de Gurson
or Moulin Neuf.
An interesting museum in Villefranche town hall will give
visitors an idea of the history and trades of this part of the
Périgord. Armed with this knowledge he or she will better
appreciate the magnificent view to be had from the natural
panoramic viewpoint of Villefranche over a vast and harmonious
area dominated by the ivy-covered ruins of Gurson. There was a
château at Gurson from the 11th century which served as a
lookout post from the high middle ages. The English seized it in
the 13th century whereupon it was given to the faithful vassals
of the English crown, the Grailiy and to their descendants, the
Foix-Gurson from the 15th century. No longer lived in from
approximately 1630 it fell into disrepair and was in ruins long
before the Revolution. Despite its dilapidated condition it
still proudly suggests a medieval castle watching over the
countryside which it once protected.
Beautiful landscapes and a great and moving history make this
area particularly appealing. |
