The castle of Acquigny, classified as a historical monument, is a jewel of the Rennaissance. The site of the castle and the park, dominated by high hills, is surrounded by the Eure and the Iton. The architecture of the Rennaissance castle and the numerous outbuildings, including an orangery with a collection of orange trees, is very beautiful. The water features, dug in the 18th or 19th century, create a beautiful play of light and shade. In addition to the sun garden along the orangery, the perimeter highlights exceptional trees in terms of size and leads to an 18th century vegetable garden being restored with espaliers and flowers. Other elements add a romantic note: bridge, rock path, calvary, 18th century Norman thatched cottage.
The site benefits from a landscape that has changed profoundly since the end of the 19th century. The cherry and alisier orchards, the vineyards and the sheep pastures of the high hills bordering the Eure and protecting the park from the north and east winds have given way to bushes and trees which imbue the landscape with a great deal of romanticism.
The classical park designed in the 17th century was abandoned between 1820 and 1830 and replaced by a romantic landscape park. Of the classical park, the rectilinear mirrors, the kitchen garden surrounded by a brick wall, the orangery which has been returned to its original purpose and the beautiful trees in the groves (lime, chestnut, yew) have been preserved. In the 19th century, the network of paths was completely redone, and a winding artificial river with a rock path and a beautiful waterfall was dug. The plantations introduced new species, oriental plane trees, common plane trees, Austrian black pines and red beeches. Some of them disappeared during the 20th century and, with the exception of the spruces, have been replanted for the last 15 years. The park was devastated during the Second World War. The first plantations were carried out in the 1950s, but the interpole restoration was not undertaken until 1990.
The 18th century kitchen garden is located at the end of the present park and has the exceptional feature of being simultaneously surrounded by high walls of pink baked bricks on the estate and by canals. These walls, topped by a framework supporting a slate roof, are trellised with beautiful, imposing pear trees with their 15 or 20 branches. Its restoration began with the walls, roofs, canals and planting. It continues with the return of the flowers.
The orangery of the castle of Acquigny was designed around 1746. Since its restoration, the orangery has housed a collection of citrus trees, palm trees and Mediterranean plants. It also serves as an exhibition, concert and reception hall. Its pink bricks, the blue-grey of the lavender and the blue sculptures of the Arizona cypresses, cut in the Italian style, form a choice setting for the potted citrus trees laid out in fine weather in front of the orangery.
The estate is situated at the bottom of a valley, between the Eure and the Iton. Replacing a fortified castle razed in 1378, the Château d'Acquigny was built between 1557 and 1572 and must have had extensive gardens from the outset. The castle and the park were progressively enlarged and transformed in the 17th century, and especially from 1745 onwards for the President of Acquigny, mortuary president of the Parliament of Rouen, by the architect Charles Thibault. The complex includes outbuildings to the north and west of a vast courtyard, a church, extended to the south-west by an orangery, and a vast park with a regular layout, crossed by a network of intersecting canals feeding two water mirrors and a large canal. At the end of his life, the President of Acquigny had a secondary dwelling built next to the church, known as the Petit Château. All the buildings from the second half of the 18th century are homogeneous, particularly due to the almost exclusive use of orange brick. The park was updated after 1823 (creation of an artificial river, construction of waterfalls, rock bridges, introduction of new species, etc.). Between 1845 and 1860, the moat was removed and the cemetery was moved to its present location.