Recent History of Les Remparts

The shape of Les Remparts has seen little change since 1837 when it was shown as two plots on the land register, with a Maison de Maître to the west (Unit 3), accessed from Rue du Chateau, and another building directly behind it with access from Rue du Couvent (unit 2), each with their own staircase; only Unit 6 has been added in the past 180 years!

The Maison de Maître was probably the last building to be added (before 1837) and in order to construct a pitched roof, the central wall, M4 was increased in height. The oldest external walls are 1,2,3,4 & 9 and possibly all date back to the Middle Ages. M2 was originally the wall of a different building on the east side (in the garden of 16, Rue du Chateau) and most likely extended south across Rue du Couvent.

Unit 4 was an attic/ store. In the first half of the twentieth century the north side of Unit 4 downstairs was one large space containing a small room housing twin sit down toilets (!) and a staircase to the upstairs, undivided except for a small room in the south east corner. Unit 4 also contained a deep well in the north east corner.

Les Remparts changed hands in 1956 and the new owners started a restaurant and a patisserie, making significant changes to the interior and exterior of Les Remparts on the back of a successful enterprise.

The upstairs of Unit 4 was used to form a restaurant from 1961 and a grand medieval fireplace purchased from a ruined chateau and renovated in Rue du Couvent was added. The windows to the restaurant were enlarged in 1975.

They created parking for the thriving restaurant in 1974 by agreeing with the Mayor that all waste material from the introduction of a telephone system to Gensac would be dumped in the front garden to form a mound; this partially concealed the walls of the remparts.

They opened up walls into Unit 4 from Unit 3, wall M8, to move the kitchen for the Maison de Maître and this space was subsequently converted into a patisserie. They made a large opening into Unit 4 from Unit 2, wall M5, to allow for access to what would become the restaurant kitchen and patisserie kitchen. Previously the downstairs of Unit 2 had been use to accommodate workers and was only accessible from the entrance in Rue du Couvent.

They made a small door through from the western side of Unit 2 (downstairs) into a toilet in the hall of Unit 3, enabling access to the Hall by virtue of the Hall having access to the same toilet located under the staircase.

In 1989 the north side of Unit 4 downstairs was converted to become the Hotel reception with guests entering from the west side to check in and departing from the east side to access the hotel bedrooms.

Between 1987-89 another family ran the restaurant which was then sold in 1989 and the same buyer also bought the Maison de Maître (Unit 3) in 1999. The new owner made an opening in wall M4 upstairs from the landing area to access the two rear eastern bedrooms without needing to use the wooden staircase next to the kitchen.

16 Rue du Chateau, opposite the church, had been the home of the parish priest and was a presbytery until it was acquired by the Commune and also let to the new owner who turned it into a hotel around 1989.

Les Remparts changed hands again in 2005 and the new owners continued to run the restaurant and rent 16 Rue du Chateau from the Commune for operation as a hotel.

With only five rooms and busy for six months a year 16 Rue du Chateau was finally sold by the Commune in 2015 for use as a family home. In 2016 Les Remparts was sold to the Robinson family and also re-designated as a residential building.