Château d'Estrac

The Château d’Estrac in Hastingues, France, is a medieval castle established by the English in the 14th century within an English bastide settlement. Begun as the stronghold known as Bayle Vieux and completed under Jean de Hastings (1347–1375), it formed part of the network of fortified sites that controlled navigation and communication on the Gaves rivers, a strategic position in the late medieval period.

The original fortification was attacked during King Charles V of France’s 1374 campaign to recover Gascony. French forces, led by the Duke of Anjou, besieged the bastide for two weeks and forced its surrender. Afterward the city of Bayonne purchased the castle for 3,000 livres and ordered it demolished; many of the stones were taken to Bayonne and reused in civic structures, including a pillory and later to face the Saint Léon fountain.

A rebuilt stronghold stood by 1407 and remained prominent through the early 16th century. In 1521, during renewed fighting between France and Spain over Navarre, Philibert de Châlons, Prince of Orange, led royal forces through the region. His army ravaged nearby districts and reached Hastingues, which many inhabitants had abandoned, yet the castle continued to stand through that campaign.

During the religious wars of the 16th century the castle endured assaults, including an attack in 1571 that caused a major fire. Martin Destrac undertook repairs to the house after that blaze. In 1661 Bertrand Destrac received letters of nobility from King Louis XIV for the household called Majourau and for the castle, which from that time became known as Château Destrac. The Destrac family supplied royal and ducal secretaries and retained ownership until the upheavals of 1792.

In 1792 Marie‑France Deville, widow Clérisse, acquired the property after negotiations with a representative of the Destrac heirs. At that date the château was in poor condition and was partially demolished while conserving important structural elements. During the war between Napoleon and Spain (1808–1814) Barthélémy Clérisse served again as mayor, Hastingues was occupied and used as a military base, and the château was adapted into a fortified post. After these events the building fabric, gardens and village grounds were described as severely run down. Marshals Jean‑de‑Dieu Soult and Louis‑Gabriel Suchet both passed through the town, and one marshal presented painted wooden library furniture in the Empire style.

In the 20th century the château continued to host notable social occasions, recorded in a 1938 newspaper notice. Later private owners sold many interior fittings and furnishings, reportedly including the campaign bed of the Duke of Wellington. From 1980 to 2015 a German couple, the Dürrs, carried out major roof repairs, eradicated a termite infestation, opened a modest visitor activity and converted part of the building into five self-contained apartments. New owners took over in 2016; they reopened the garden for communal photography events, included the château on a local heritage promenade, and announced plans to refurnish principal rooms in an 18th-century manner. The terrace and the wood of Estrac have been legally listed since 1942 and are protected for their natural interest.