Chateau de la Perrière

Firstly, the expression "stagnum castrum", in this context, does not prove the existence of a castle. Secondly, if there was indeed a castle in 1209, it was in Étang itself, probably around the church, and not in La Perrière.
In the 13th century, these two settlements were quite distinct. They were located on either side of the Arroux, and La Perrière appeared to be as large a settlement as Etang. In fact, in 1243, a charter refers to the latter place as Estans subtus Perreriam: so La Perrière does exist, and is undoubtedly larger than Etang. Until the 17th century, La Perrière had its own fair, separate from those of Etang.
The de La Perrière family appeared a little later, with Gui de La Perrière, in 1253, famous for having been imprisoned by the chapter of Autun and forcibly released by his lord Jean de Châtillon, lord of Glenne2. Gui de La Perrière inherited from Jean de Châtillon3 a simple "fortified house", which probably already stood on the site of today's
present-day castle.
The fortified house of La Perrière may have been built to counter the castle of Etang, the latter being the fief of the bishop of Autun, and La Perrière being under the direct control of the counts of Nevers. However, after 1209, there was no mention of any other castle other than La Perrière.
The castle remained in the hands of the eponymous family until 1435, when Philip the Good confiscated it from Gui de Cousan, a supporter of the King, and gave it to Nicolas Rolin, who was no doubt very happy to expand his castle holdings near Autun.
In 1461, the Château de la Perrière reverted to Guillaume Rolin4, who kept it until at least 1476.
By 1572, the building was in the hands of the La Guiche family, but it was no longer anything more than an old castle, worth nothing more than its grounds. In 1610, President Jeannin bought this seigneury, no doubt with the aim of exchanging it for the seigneury of La Toison, which was essential for expanding his estate at Montjeu.
In 1676, the castle was leased with permission to take stones to build a house at a place called "La Croix":
"1676, 23 December - Entrage made by Maître de Castille to Nicolas Bernard, of the ouche de la Croix of 4 boisselées, enclosed by live plans, holding on one side the road from Autun to Toulon, on the other the road from Etang to Mesvres, on one long side the wood and pasture of la Drée, for three pounds of cens bearing lods. He will also be required to build a house on the said land using the stones from the château de la Perrière". Of course, it would be essential to be able to locate this house in order to find the stones of the castle!
From then on, La Perrière was nothing more than an estate, and the castle fell into oblivion, until Jacques-Gabriel Bulliot came to visit, and no doubt excavate, this notoriously Roman camp:
"1856 - This hillock was the site of an important castellum that controlled the road. Its strong foundations can still be seen under the rubble and under the ploughshare; the hillock was occupied by one of those often-reproduced rectangular buildings, whose internal divisions have disappeared. Two stepped circumscriptions, of extraordinary size, closed off the
closed the perimeter. The highest of these vallums is no less than eighteen metres wide and two hundred and fifteen metres long. The feudal system occupied La Perrière from time immemorial, and the thirteenth-century tombs of its lords still line some of the farms in Mesvres.
Its ruins, littered with black pottery and rimmed tiles, and Roman medals, including an iron key of a shape frequently found in the ruins of Autun, leave no doubt as to its ancient origins.
Bulliot may not have been satisfied with a superficial examination; the topography of the site reveals two deep pits dug into the western flank of the motte, through the curtain walls and towards the centre. These pits are perhaps due to the natural collapse of the castle. Nevertheless, they are reminiscent of the deformations affecting the Visigneux motte in Marmagne and the Maunay motte in Saint-Eusèbe, both of which were visited by the Beuvray archaeologist.

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