The Château de Remaisnil is an 18th-century château situated on the edge of the French village of Remaisnil, in the Somme department of

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

. It has been a listed

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

since 1986. Château The house was built in 1760 on the site of a former Medieval castle. For centuries, the house and surrounding lands remained in the same noble family, the viscounts de Butler. In the late nineteenth century it came into the possession of Senator

Jules Elby Jules Désiré Elby (25 November 1857 – 2 July 1933) was a French industrialist and Democratic Republican Alliance politician who represented Pas-de-Calais in the Senate between 1923 and 1933. He was also Director-General of the Bruay Mining Co ...

, connected by marriage to the Leroy and du Merle families. A member of the Elby family was involved in the design of the

Paris Métro The Paris Métro (french: Métro de Paris ; short for Métropolitain ) is a rapid transit system in the Paris metropolitan area, France. A symbol of the Paris, city, it is known for its density within the capital's territorial limits, uniform ar ...

, and a white-tiled underground passageway still exists between the château and its former stables. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the château was used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

as an operations centre and Remaisnil lies close to the Somme battlefields. Following the

German invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

in 1940 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the house was occupied by the Germans as officers' quarters, and a

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Ministry of Aviation (Nazi Germany), Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buz ...

launch site was constructed in the parkland, of which the foundation of part of the launch apparatus is still visible.M. McLachlan, 'Walking with the ANZACS: A guide to Australian battlefields on the Western Front' (Hachette UK, 1 Nov 2010) Following the war the then-dilapidated house was retained by the Elby family until the late 1950s. In the late 1970s, the château was bought by

Laura Ashley Laura Ashley (née Mountney; 7 September 1925 – 17 September 1985) was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She originally made furnishing materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s ...

and her husband, Bernard Ashley, who conducted extensive renovation work on the fabric of the building and re-designed the interiors. In 1987, the château was purchased by Americans Adrian and Susan Doull, who turned it into a hotel and conference centre. It was subsequently re-sold as a hotel, and is now privately owned. Although the traditional estate of the house has been reduced in size, today the château retains 35 acres of parkland. The grounds contain a walled garden, tennis court and swimming pool, and an

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

designed by Laura Ashley. The house itself has five grand reception rooms, some of which retain decorative features from the reign of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

References

Châteaux in Somme (department) Chateau Remaisnil {{France-castle-stub