L'ancienne prison

On the corner of Rue de la Mairie and Rue du Château-Gaillard, this house dates back to the early 19th century. Previously, the site was occupied by the former Bourgneuf prison.

The seigniorial court and the prison

During the commune's golden age, between the 17th and 18th centuries, many sailors, smugglers, poachers, shipwreck raiders and other "outlaws" frequented the neighbourhoods of the village of Bourgneuf.
The commune therefore built a prison, an auditorium and a courtroom to dispense justice on the spot.

The pillory

In the middle of today's crossroads, a pillory was once planted.
This post was fitted with two iron rings where the condemned were exposed to the public as a sign of infamy.

The Bourgneuf pillory was removed in 1789.


A mayor's house

During the 19th century, the notables from the bourgoisie built large houses. These lined the rue de la Mairie as far as the square.
In 1818, a bourgeois house was built on the site of the prison.
This building was then occupied by one of the town's mayors.

Gustave Bourdin (1825-1913), born in Viellevigne, was a notary. He married Clotilde Gigault (1829-1890) in Sainte-Pazanne in 1851. They had 3 children.
The family moved to Bourgneuf in 1856, on rue de Belinette. Gustave became mayor of Bourgneuf in 1865.
From at least 1866, he lived in rue du Château-Gaillard, in the house we are interested in, until his death.

Gustave Bourdin was general councillor for the canton of Bourgneuf, on the Republican ticket, from 1871 to 1877, beating the previous councillor, Charles Étienne Gustave Le Clerc de Juigné, owner of the Château de Bois-Rouaud.

Gustave became president and founder of the Bourgneuf agricultural show. In 1897, he was awarded the rank of chevalier du mérite agricole.
Gustave Bourdin breathed his last at the age of 87 on 19 June 1913 in Bourgneuf-en-Retz.


Did you know?
The pillory, a persistent punishment...
Used since the Middle Ages, the pillory was a seigneurial right. It was a way for the lord to show that he had the right of justice over his fiefdom.
To "put someone in the pillory" was to expose the person condemned to public indignation and contempt.
After the abolition of the feudal system during the Revolution, pillories fell into disuse. They were replaced around 1795 by the punishment of the carcan, which remained in force in France until 1832.
Then, in 1832, the punishment became a simple public exhibition without physical restraint (provided for in article 22 of the Penal Code as an "accessory penalty" to a sentence of forced labour or imprisonment).
The penalty itself was not abolished until 1848.


A little extra :
This site can be discovered by following Bourgneuf-en-Retz's historic urban trail.