The tower is today the only vestige of a stately home dating from the thirteenth century that also consisted of a dwelling with a chapel and a barn. The tower is built on a square plan. Its stonework and squared rubble construction, as well as the decoration of its entrance door and cramped openings, are consistent with the architectural creations of the first decades of the 13th century. This tower has two independent floors. It is assumed that an external wooden staircase allowed access to the upstairs door. Upstairs, latrines still remain. This building was probably not to be used as a dwelling, but rather as a place of justice. Records show that the tower was used as a seigneurial jail. Its poor appearance strengthened the power of the abbey of Clairvaux at this period. It stands out as the only medieval building to date preserved from the abbey’s former stately homes.

Address
10200 Champignol, Aube, Grand Est, France