The Archive Tower is an integral part of the planned arts and crafts centre in 2025. Today in a state of peril, it threatens to collapse at any moment. Its safeguarding is however essential for the castle and the town. We have applied for the Bern 2020 mission and are awaiting the results. If we are selected, the work can begin and the tower will be saved!
In 2013, along with four other sites in Quintin, the Tour des archives was selected by the Chaillot School as a study project. Their work, very complete and of high quality, was exhibited at Quintin and then at the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine in Paris. It provides a diagnosis of its sanitary and structural condition of prime importance. Moreover, it confirms the undeniable heritage interest of the tower, its crucial role as a link between the city and the castles, and opens up new perspectives for enhancement.
The Tower was one of the defences of the Porte Neuve, one of the entrances to the Medieval City of Quintín. The construction of the city gates is attributed to Geoffroy I Boterel, on his return from the 7th Crusade in 1248. In the 15th century, the medieval enclosure and the Tower were redesigned and restored, and in the 18th century the Choiseul-Praslin family covered the Tower with a pepperpot roof and fitted it out to house the castle archives. A staircase turret and a false pitch at the foot of the ramparts were also added to the ensemble.
The north tower, owned by the town, was levelled and filled in in the 19th century to integrate it into the terrace in front of the church. The Archive Tower, on the other hand, bears witness to multiple historical strata. As shown in this section, it consists of a main shaft on three levels: the archive room at the top, accessible from the gardens of the castle, an intermediate level that is inaccessible today, and a lower level that has been backfilled, which corresponds to its medieval origin. A spiral staircase turret is attached to it, connecting the terraces and gardens of the castle to the former moat.
In September 2013, the Chaillot School’s cross-disciplinary workshop took the Tour des archives as its subject of study. A group carried out a complete health diagnosis. Several disorders were observed on this occasion.
Stair turret :
Entry film :
Heart of the Tower:
Faulty watertightness: tarpaulins not held, probably torn off by the last storms
Probable evolution of the disorders :
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