The present owner’s family bought the place in 1773, but the castle is much older, in fact nobody knows how old. A Durecu or Durescu family was around in 1227. In 1307 the castle briefly belonged to the French king… Philippe le Bel (Philippe the beautiful !).
What you see now is mostly in Renaissance style and owes its look to major works around 1610.
Dur-Ecu means Strong Shield, a name that originates from a battle fought by William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and future King of England. There are a few different versions of the story: Was he fighting in Brittany or was he at Hastings ?. An enemy threatened to slash William’s head with his ax. A Norman knight – maybe Richard le Fort – interposed his shield and the ax went deep into the wood of the shield without breaking it. William’s life was saved and the Strong Shield became a legend and reminds that this castle was meant to defend Normandy against attackers.
In our “Département de la Manche” quite a few places are called Dur-Ecu or Fortescu. There is a prominent Fortescu/Fortescue family on both side of the Channel and a Durecu family aswell. (More details in another article of this blog).
In fact the British navy landed twice on the beach facing the castle, the last time in 1758.
