A relic built into the tower from the original ruin of the earlier Fort Maison
| Château Lichecourt |
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A relic built into the tower from the original ruin of the earlier Fort Maison |
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Chateau Lichecourt used to be open for Bed and Breakfast hospitality but five years ago it changed hands and is now just a private dwelling. However it still looks fantastic from the outside. |
| France also has a short period most years called Heritage Day. Journées du Patrimoine |
Heritage Day is worth looking out for because sometimes the Lichecourt owners participate in the event and organize tours at that time. They may do the same this year. |
| There is an old legend about the castle it goes something like this: THE LADY OF LICHECOURT Anne-Salomé was buried in the crypt of the Lichecourt chapel after a short illness. She was put in a coffin and set down in the crypt. Her old housekeeper went to pray in the crypt and suddenly heard a knocking. When he investigated he found it came from inside the coffin. The family were alerted and they ran and unwound the noble dame from her shroud. Unfortunately her recovery did not last long and she died and was certified dead three or four days later but, shocked by the earlier attitude of her nearest and dearest, she predicted, before dying, that she would come back to haunt the château and the vicinity in the shape of an owl. And they say in Relanges, the locality, that some winter evenings, when the wind moans through the leafless trees of Lichecourt, you can sometimes hear this owl!!! It is now white with age. |
| Each time the lord of the manor changed or the ownership of Lichecourt changed hands, the inhabitants of Château Lichecourt had to report and swear a new oath of alliegance. One version dated 4th January 1595 still survives in the archives. It is very difficult to read and more difficult to translate from the old French but here is roughly what it says. |
| The Repris for Lichecourt of 1595 |