You will find a walled-up door opposite the entrance to this room, that used to lead to a hoard.

This is the last level of the tower, before a vault and a roof deck were added in the late XIV^th c. Beforehand, there was a conical roof over your head, called a pepperbox.

The vault only has four ribs. The tower being tapered upwards, a smaller diameter of the tower at this height meant there was no need for a larger vault. It is the only four-ribbed vault in the three towers.

Look at the square holes in the facing at 3,30m from the floor all around the room. This is where the main beams of the roof framework fit. It is also at this height that the late XIV^th c. continuation of the works began. This is quite visible from the fourth course of stones above the window frames.

The wooden seat in this room partially hides the remains of the pipe from the first-floor chimney, which carries on until the course of stones where the new building work was begun.

Alternating with two plunging arrow-slits, six windows were built all around the room in the late XIII^th c., three of which were walled-up at the end of the XIV^th c., when the height of the Old-Hall was raised. “Their lintel sits on a supporting wall on the left-hand, but on a corbel on the right, architectonic feature that can be found in the three towers at this level” (Barbier de Montaut). De Montault, a passionate amateur, makes a mistake though, since the distinct characteristic he rightfully notes here doesn’t apply to the eastern tower, the oldest of the three.

At the end of the XIV^th c., limestone from Apremont (now in the Département du Cher) was used, a natural stone that is softer than the sandstone used a century earlier, thus explaining its eroded condition, especially on the external facing.

This room was fitted out in the early 1990s and displays a few weapons to illustrate its military purpose. You will find helmets, a cross-bow, a sword and polearms, long blade-weapons originating in peasantry’s’ farming tools.

For safety reasons, you won’t be able to access the deck-roof in this tower, but you might still walk up a few stairs to enjoy the beautiful view of the Old-Hall from what used to be the door to XIV^th C. walk-walk, the deck roof covering the Old-House, that is.

 © March 2023