Castle and gardens of the Chateau de Campagne, Dordogne; a visitor's guide

Photo of Gardens of the Chateau de Campagne

Visit Gardens of the Chateau de Campagne

Campagne is a pretty village in the Dordogne department of French and in the centre of the village there is a beautiful chateau that has recently been renovated. The castle is surrounded by a lovely park and gardens that are free to visit.

Explore the gardens of the Chateau de Campagne

There has been a castle in Campagne since the 12th century but this castle which belonged to the Archbishops of Bordeaux was seized by Jean de Beaufort in 1405 and handed to the English. It was retaken by the French in 1432 and burnt down on the orders of King Charles VII.

The current Chateau de Campagne was rebuilt in the XV, XVII and XVIII centuries. It was renovated in a neogothic style in 1860 to 1880 by an architect from Bordeaux, Alphonse Blaquière. This renovation was not a defensive one but was carried out to make the castle more comfortable and esthetically pleasing.

In 1970 the chateau was left to the state by the Marquis de Campagne who had no heirs. Recently the castle has been renovated and is a stunning chateau. The chateau is not open to visitors but the surrounding park has also been renovated and is not only beautiful in itself but allows some stunning vistas onto the chateau.

The grounds are large and cover 6 hectares and lead onto woods of 367 hectares. The grounds were originally laid out in the manner of a 19th century English country park and have lots of mature trees including some huge redwood trees and centuries-old cedar trees.

As part of the renovation of the gardens the stream has been reshaped to a more serpentine form incorporating a couple of exisiting ponds by the chateau and its banks have been beautifully planted with over 5000 plants.

A path follows the stream and through the plants and trees you get some beautiful vistas of the castle which is particular attractive at the rear. From the stream the path continues past the long farm buildings which once housed the labourers and on through the park.

The castle and gardens sit at the foot of a hill which rises up and provides a steep and verdant backdrop of trees to the grounds.

Round the other side of the castle after enjoying the majestic old trees of the park you come to a labyrinth and a medieval style garden. The medieval garden is laid out symetrically and incorporates vegetables, edible and medicinal herbs and plants that would have been grown for the dyeing textiles as well as lots of cut flowers.

Next to the gardeners house there is also an interesting curved greenhouse used to propogate plants for the garden.

The grounds are free to explore and open from 10am to 4pm in the winter, 6pm mid-season and 8pm in July and August. The gardens are closed in December, January and February except for the school holidays.

Attractions nearby

The village of Campagne is very pretty and has a couple of bar / restaurants with outside terraces where you can sit outside and enjoy the views of the village.

Nearby Les-Eyzies is at the heart of the prehistoric sites of the Vezere Valley which in itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its huge prehistory interest.

Le-Bugue is a pretty market town with lots to offer, especially if you are travelling with children.