Informations directionnelles

Laisser la Bergerie derrière vous et emprunter le chemin qui descend en passant à gauche de la maison en contrebas. Prendre la route sur la gauche, continuer tout droit jusqu’à l’intersection. Prendre à droite et continuer tout droit sur environ 600 mètres puis prendre à droite en coupant à travers le golf. Traverser la D142. Dans le hameau de Haute-Souris, prendre la première à droite, la rue des petites maisons. Continuer tout droit jusqu’à la ferme Méré et continuer encore jusqu’aux ruines de la Chapelle St Laurent de Méré.

Prochain point : lat="49.117986914" lon="1.714413999"

The Villarceaux Bergerie
Promoting social and environmental transition

A manorial farm…

The lords and wealthy families who owned the Villarceaux estate once possessed a great deal of land. In the mid-20th century, the Villefranche family could still cross seven communes without ever leaving their own land. While farms like La Moinerie, Ambleville and Méré had the same owner, they were run by different farmers, to whom they were often leased. The Bergerie (sheep farm), directly adjoining the manor, was another of these farms. Today it is still structured around a courtyard accessed via a cut stone carriage gate, topped with an awning. It consists of several agricultural buildings (barns, sheds and stables) whose construction was carried out in stages over the 18th (for the North East corner), 19th and 20th centuries.

…Now transformed

Owned by the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for Human Progress (Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer pour le Progrès de l’Homme) this vast 600 hectare estate, including farm land and forest, has been radically transformed. It is now a large-scale eco-agricultural experiment, with its 400 hectares of farm land now given over to organic farming. The fields have been repartitioned and more than 20,000 trees have been planted in hedgerows around them. Crops have been diversified and livestock farming and agroforestry reintroduced. Semi-wild areas have been set aside as habitat for beneficial insects, able to reduce the harmful effects of pests.
Even the buildings have been renovated and adapted for new uses. The farm buildings have been modernised and can more easily accommodate machinery. The farmhouse and former sheep-shed have been remodelled to create accommodation, conference rooms and a restaurant.