The Tour du Canourgue

From this vantage point you can discover the uppermost part of the Vallée Française, notably the temple (Protestant church) at Molezon and the tower of Biasses on the valley floor. In the west, the horizon is foreshortened by a limestone plateau: the Can de l’Hospitalet. This represents one of the furthest reaches of the ocean in the Mesozoic period, when it largely covered the old schist massif of the Cévennes.

The Vallée Française, originally known as the Val Francesque, is the middle valley in a system of three parallel Cévenol valleys (incl. Vallée Longue to the north-east and Vallée Borgne to the south). Legend has it that under the command of Roland, one of Charlemagne’s valiant knights, the valley fought off the Saracen invasion and remained Frankish. Other hypotheses refer to a valley that was franche, meaning exempt from certain taxes. However, it is more likely that the Vallée Française was a Frankish foothold in Visigoth southern France (5th and 6th centuries) during the times of division that followed the fall of the Roman Empire under the pressure of the so-called “Barbarian” tribes.

Architectural deterioration caused by the wear and tear of time as much as by removal of stones almost vanquished this impressive monument, which has stood for centuries at the point of a rocky promontory. The conservation efforts of several Cévennes-loving volunteers kept the tower standing in the 1960s, but without saving it for good. The Cévennes National Park bought it in 1990 with the aim of turning it into one of the components of the Cévenne Eco-Museum, and fully restored it the following year. The holm oaks growing near this point partially hide a set of terraces that bear witness to farming in days gone by.

Dans la montée qui mène à la Tour du Canourgue, on remarque la nette dissymétrie des versants et sa répercussion sur la végétation et l'activité agricole. Sur le versant sud-ouest plus sec, rocheux et raide, le chêne vert domine. De l'autre côté de la vallée, une exposition nord-est plus fraîche et un profil de pente plus doux, s'accompagnant de sols plus profonds, favorisent le châtaignier.

At the valley-end of the staircase was a partially overhanging building. On the ground, at a hollowed-out spot, is a sandstone millstone wedged into place on its base by small upright schist slabs. It was probably re-used as an oven floor, but research has not shown what kind of oven – for bread or other purposes.

On the facade, besides arrow-slits and one window, are two times two holes. This was probably where a wooden gallery (hoarding) was built on corbels to overhang the access.Inside, on the first floor, the dimensions of the openings suggest that this was a living space despite its small size. On the top floor, the edge of the vault is embellished with a decorative cornice, an exact replica of the one in the keep at Garde-Guérin (north of Villefort). The double-sloped roof is the most common type for this kind of building. In the late 19th century (Romanticism), it was fashionable to add terraces and battlements when restoring towers.

The oldest records mentioning the Château du Canourgue date from 1219, but it is probably older. Throughout the 13th century, it was a fief of Raymond d’Anduze, then of Raymond de Barre. It then became a joint property of the King of France and the Bishop of Mende. Archaeological excavations have not been able to pinpoint exactly when it was built, but do show that it was abandoned in the late 14th or early 15th century, based on fragments of kitchenware discovered here (jugs and cooking pots from St-Quentin-la-Poterie, near Uzès).

The lords of Le Canourgue had to live on the income from their lands, meaning the rents paid, especially in kind, by the peasants who farmed the estate's lands: sweet chestnuts or rye (grown underneath the chestnut trees), nuts and fruit (walnuts, plums, etc.), wine (not much) and meat products (essentially pork). Once a year, on a fixed date, the peasants living in the valley’s various mas or farms came to bring the rent they owed. Some farmed the terraced crop land near the castle and lived (among other professions) in the village built at its feet.

The Tour du Canourgue is sometimes described as a “signal tower” similar to the towers near the coast, which allowed locals to watch out for the “Barbary corsairs”, and to communicate using fire. Such a system would have required joint organisation and solidarity between the local lords. This was not exactly the most common scenario in the Cévennes from the 11th to the 14th centuries, when alliances, counter-alliances and conflicts followed one another. The Tour du Canourgue may have been used for sending signals – though no records have so far been found to support this theory – but that was patently not its primary function.

There was a square building here that controlled access to the tower. Between the staircase and the entrance into the tower, staggered walls and a narrow corridor intersected by doors reinforced the keep’s defences. Its defensive capacity should not be over-estimated. Ten or so armed people could surely capture it. Though it was a fortification, above all it enabled the lords who owned it to project their authority symbolically. But this was also a residence of local seigneurs. Although there is no precise information about the Tour du Canourgue, by comparison with similar buildings one can estimate that 20 to 30 people lived in it.