Parc du Manoir du Vivier

Owned by the département until July 2010, the Manoir du Vivier park in the heart of the village now belongs to the commune of Feuguerolles-Bully. It covers an area of 3.5 hectares.

Once comprising a main house, outbuildings, pleasure gardens, several ponds and a wood, the property was inhabited until 1940. It was destroyed at the end of the Second World War during the liberation of the commune.


The origins of the manor house and its various owners :

One of the main sources for the pre-20th century period is a monograph on Feuguerolles-sur-Orne written by Commandant Navel in 1926. In it, he lists the various owners of what he calls the Manoir du Vivier.

He indicates that this property is of recent origin. In the 15th century, it was divided into several parcels known as the Brize garden, the Chièvre garden, the little girl garden, etc An important local family, the Troismonts, owned several plots. Throughout the 16th century, they purchased neighboring plots, and in the early 17th century, they built the property that remained until the Second World War.

Manoir du Vivier remained in the de Troismonts family until 1720, when they sold it to a squire, Jean Fortin, who kept it for only 12 years before selling it to Jean François Crestey, a merchant and Caen burgher whose granddaughter married a Le Bourguignon Duperré in 1768 in the church of Feuguerolles-sur-Orne. The property remained in this family until 1884, when Marcellin Le Bourguignon Duperré, a law professor, died.

After the death of the Le Bourguignon Duperré family, the estate passed through several hands, with 3 owners in 20 years. In September 1918, it was bought by Charles Lefèvre, who was mayor of the commune in the early 20s. After his death, his widow sold the property in August 1929 to a wealthy Englishman, Walter Plummer.

In November 1933, Mr. Plummer donated the property to Christiane and Odette Rossi, his wife's two daughters. Destroyed at the time of the liberation in 1944, the manor was no longer habitable and left to fall into disrepair. It was only in December 1973, probably not knowing what to do with the estate, that the two Rossi sisters sold it, along with other property, to the Bessin-based company Urbanisme et Construction.

In February 1991, the Conseil Départemental decided to participate in the acquisition of land required for the creation of urban parks. Taking advantage of this new political direction, one of our former mayors, Roger Montigny, who had considered it important for the commune to be able to preserve this heritage, succeeded after difficult discussions in persuading the elected members of the Conseil Général to proceed with the purchase of the property. The sale was signed in March 1995. In return, the commune was entrusted with the management, maintenance and development of the park, with the aim of creating a recreational area that would be pleasant for local residents, while preserving its natural character.

In 2009, the municipality announced its wish to purchase the park from the département. This took place on July 1, 2010.