The Giraud d'Anqueville, lords of Bois-Charente, built the castle in the 16th century. The main building has a 16th century tower and extensions dating from the 19th century.
In 1680, the castle passed through marriage to François Goulard, lord of La Faye, and it became the property of Jean Thioulet, gentleman of the king, at the beginning of the 18th century.
Bois-Charente belonged in 1900, at the beginning of the 20th century, to Jean Fougerat known as Élie, a wealthy owner and benefactor for the development of the Cognac vineyard. The Charente pharmacist and winegrower Jean Fougerat (1863-1932) made a fortune by exploiting several pharmaceutical specialties, in particular the famous Rami syrup to treat the bronchi. This bachelor amassed a "considerable fortune", part of his income came from the exploitation of large vineyards that he had acquired around Graves-Saint-amant, his native land. Indeed, after the phylloxera, in 1897, he replanted 350 hectares of vines on his land acquired in the communes of Graves (logis de Bois Charente), Champmillon (domaine de la Chapelle), Saint-Preuil, in 1897 and Lignières-Sonneville between 1898 and 1901. In 1906, he harvested 22,000 hl of wine and produced 3,000 hl of brandy.
He developed the logis de Bois Charente and enlarged its park. He planted more than 500 different species there. He set up a wine station where, with his colleagues, he prepared future plantations and improved the distillation processes.
In the absence of immediate outlets, he distilled and aged the eau-de-vie and built numerous ageing cellars in Champmillon, Saint-Preuil and Bourg-Charente.
When he died, Fougerat donated his estate and his Bois-Charente manor to the city of Angoulême, the universal legatee. She set up an "Institut de la viticulture charentaise" there (soon renamed the "Bureau interprofessionnel du cognac" and repatriated to Cognac in the 1980s). The Manor was active until the early 1980s, then between 2003 and 2016 it became an educational center for young people in judicial protection. The educational support was based on a high-end application restaurant, with the preparation of CAP and BEP certificates as a key.
In his will, Jean Fougerat also had an imposing monument erected in Bois-Charente to the glory of Charente viticulture and cognac. Created by the sculptors R. Lamour de dieu and Émile Peyronnet, the work represents "six figures engaged in viticultural work, in bronze bas-relief; a distillery is engraved in marble".
Jean Fougerat gave his name to a street in Angoulême and to his foundation, based in Graves-Saint-Amant. The latter supported the Institute of Viticultural Research in 1936, then currently supports the educational center with the CCAS.
Translated by Google •
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