Château d'Hardelot

Condette, France

Building located at Condette, the castle of Hardelot is a manor house remodeled in the 19th century in the neo Tudor style, on foundations from the first half of the 13th century.

The first castle at this site was built in the 12th century by the Counts of Boulogne. The curtain walls date back to that time. The present castle was built by Philip I, Count of Boulogne and son of Philip II of France, in 1222. He also built Boulogne-sur-Mer Castle to a rather similiar plan; a more or less circular castle with projecting circular towers but no keep.

In 1848 Hardelot Castle was bought by the Englishman Sir John Hare. He rebuilt one of the best remaining towers into a Tudor-style mansion. Large receptions were given here and the writer Charles Dickens, a friend of Hare, often visited the castle.

Located on the edge of the regional nature reserve of the Condette marsh, near the forest and the dunes of Ecault, it now houses the Cultural Center of the Entente Cordiale, managed by the Department of Pas-de-Calais. The rooms of the castle are fully furnished and retrace the tumultuous relations between France and Great Britain.

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Details

Founded: 13th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in France
Historical period: Late Capetians (France)

More Information

www.boulonnaisautop.com

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Iryna Kabanchuk (10 months ago)
Beautiful 'pseudo Gothic' style mansion was built in 1848 by Sir John Hare.
Ioan Davies (10 months ago)
This is a great little place, if your from the UK and live visiting a National Trust or English Heritage sites then this is a place for you. It’s only 30mins from the euro shuttle and ferry at Calais. So if you have time and want the kids to stretch their legs, this is again the place to visit, Luckily when we arrived the had a performance on in the gardens, which was a wonderful experience for our kids, the calligraphy and singing was great to watch, We had a round around the gardens and enjoyed every part of it, and as it was a Sunday (all shops are closed) we had some lite bites/food before we settled off for the euro shuttle. The castle/Chateau was closed for the public as they are going through some construction work, but the gardens were open to explore. Like I said, highly recommended visiting Chateau d’Hardelot.
Anastasiia Varezhnikova (2 years ago)
Beautiful castle and garden. Interior is not so fascinating as exterior. But for 3 euro it is ok to get in. Tickets have entry time. They control how many people is in (and it is good), but you may need to wait a bit. We walked through the garden and it is amazing. You need a separate ticket for exposition. The woman on the pay desk has not told me. I just asked for 2 adult tickets. When i was told this at the exposition entrance, i was lazy to go back to buy tickets again. Not wheelchair friendly. You may be able to walk through the garden, but no way to get into the castle.
Laurent Petas (2 years ago)
I was brought up near the chateau when it was standing at a ruin. It is so nice to see it restored in such a lovely fashion. I also love what they've done with the walkway through the swamp around the lake.
James Wilkinson (2 years ago)
Great value at €3 entry
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