the name of the chateau
The myth is that the owner of the chateau was taken prisoner at the battle of Agincourt . On his release and return to the chateau he found a tree growing in the fireplace. The old French word 'tisonner' means to poke the fire, and tison can mean embers.
During the battle of Agincourt the French attacked the English camp at Maisoncelles. That attack was led by Robert de Bournonville. The family name of historical owners of the chateau is Bournonvill or de Fernehem de Bournonville.
The area in which the chateau is situated was part of the Duchy of Boulogne , and as far back as the 12th century a de Bournonville was the Duke. The region was subdivided into smaller administrative sections, each under the control of a close relative of the Duke but with the Duke maintaining overall power. The first mention of a chateau at Thiembronne that we have found so far is early 14th century.
Documents also mention the destruction of the chateau at Thiembronne at the end of the 15th century, by Spanish soldiers. Others indicate that the area was then part of Spanish Flanders constantly under attack from France.
The existing chateau is a mix of 18th and 19th century construction clearly built on the site of an earlier dwelling. The cellar is a pillar and vault construction whereas the rest of the building is normal wall and lintel. The walls of the cellar do not align with the walls above them, and the cellar projects beyond the limits of the chateau proper. In the cellar there are newer walls that suggest an area has been sealed off.
world war 2
The area around St Omer was liberated in September 1944 by the 5th Polish armoured division under the command of General Maczek. Their main line of advance took them through Hesdin, Fruges , Fauquembergues and on to St Omer.
The Pas de Calais suffered more than any other region of France in the war. The allied air forces dropped over 220,000 bombs on this county . The Germans considered the St Omer region to be particularly important to their war effort and selected it as the best location for their new super weapons such as the V3.
Immediately after the Normandy landings the Germans flooded over 30,000 acres of lowland between Calais-Dunkirk and St Omer in order to isolate the coast.
irish guards in world war 1
Rudyard Kipling wrote a history of the Irish Guards in WW1 . He had used his influence to get his son John accepted into the army . John had been refused because of his serious shortsight. Kipling recounts that in 1915 the Guards were stationed at Thiembronne for training in the run up to the battle of Loos . Alas John Kipling was killed on the first day of the battle. During the period of training one sergeant of the Irish Guards was killed when a bomb exploded prematurely. He is buried in the Thiembronne village cemetery which is therefore classed as a Commonwealth War Grave.
