For an updated and more comprehensive guide to the history of Serres-et-Montguyard please see:
“Serres after an administrative re-organisation in the year Eight of the Republican Calendar (s-et-Montguyard 2000 ans d’histoire” published in 2019 by Art et Histoire en Périgord Noir.
Please visit their website for more information.
The village of Serres has been part of the commune of Serres-et-Montguyard for over 200 hundred years. The two villages were united after an administrative re-organisation in the year Eight of the Republican Calendar (1800), when the commune of was born. So for completeness we include here both the history of Serres and of Montguyard. This article is based on earlier articles by M Pigeon in 1912 and M Imbert in 1990 and has been brought up to the present day by M Cowan of le Gardeau, based on the local knowledge of M Rocon, one of the older residents of the village, who was born, as he says, ‘under the sound of the local church bells’. (2014).
The History of Montguyard
After the fall of Jerusalem in the 12th century, the Knights Templar came to settle in Montguyard, (then styled ‘Mons Guirdus’), where for a century or more a fairly important Commandery had extended protection over the whole of the area. The Commandery ruins are at La Tour, 300 metres from the romanesque church, which at one time was a lot bigger than it is today. There are rumours that an underground passage linking the church and the old Commandery still exists, but it remains to be found. The archives go back only until the 13th century, where we can see that a charter was signed in 1289 between Edward I of England and the Grand Prior of Saint-Giles, one of the two great Priories of the Langue (or Province) of Provence. The Charter ended a dispute about jurisdiction over Montguyard, which gave the Order of the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem the right to administer high and low justice, as well as seignieury, or authority, over lands belonging to Montguyard and its affiliates. After the suppression of the order of the Templars in the 14th century, their possessions, including Montguyard and its estates, passed to the Priory of Condat*. Further estates belonging to the Order were attached to Montguyard, and Condat’s authority over the whole of Perigord.
- Presumably this refers to the Cluniac priory in the municipality of Romainmôtier-Envy in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It’s a possibility that Condat Priory had links with the Abbey of Fontenelle and be linked with the rue Fontonelle in Eymet.
The History of Serres
The fertile plain of Serres, at the bottom of the valley, alongside the River Dropt, has been cultivated for 4,000 or 5,000 years. The name comes from ‘serra’ (like ‘sierra’ in Spanish), meaning a long hill, dominating one aspect of the village. In Roman times it appears that the town of ‘Ay mata’ (now Eymet) was an important military garrison, with a fortress or watchtower, and a small hamlet (later ‘le Gardeau’) was built 4 km from Eymet, next to the small town of Serres. There are few remaining vestiges of the ancient fortress and its bridge over the Dropt, for, in the 5th century, everything was destroyed by the Visigoths. One of their chiefs built a villa – Villa Gardella – close to the ruined town, which became the centre of the new town – Ville Gardelle. Later on a new parish church of Serres and Ville Gardelle united these two communities around a communal church.
At the site of the present Serres church, built in 1893, there were at least two older churches, destroyed by the ravages of various conquering armies.
There were once very productive vineyards on the slopes around Serres, most of them destroyed by phylloxera, after which only about 110 hectares were replanted, and the only significant vineyards today are at Montguyard. Hemp was grown in the fields bordering the Dropt, and this was used for weaving sheets, one of the town’s small industries.
Even more important was the production of the Serres onion, which was famous throughout the region, just as the Marmande tomato is today.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Serres had a baker, a wholesale wine merchant, two grocers, a coffee shop, an innkeeper, a blacksmith, a cartwright, a shoemaker and a tobacconist – now all gone. In the 60 years since 1851, the commune lost a third of its inhabitants, and this decrease continued until the 1980s, when mainly British people began to buy holiday homes or retire locally, and many of them now, along with Dutch and Irish, have come to live for most of the year, although since 2010 this trend has slowed down.
Archaeology
According to the guide books the Dropt valley is rich in archaeology, particularly from Roman times. We remain to be convinced so please send us examples and photos of sites you believe deserve recognition. BUT, we now have our own unique archaeological treasure. In 2007 we had a very serious dig take place in the village, and in particular in the lieu-dit of Versailles.
The Versailles excavations
For the following we have drawn on the article published in the Sud Ouest of the 3rd September 2012, translated here for us by Tara Oakes:
“Are the 220 inhabitants of Serres-et-Montguyard, a small village south of Bergerac, sleeping on an architectural treasure? Perhaps. But before digging up the riches from the soil, they’ll have to go to the till themselves: 1 million euros to pay for the digs, and unearth a potential tourist draw of a Grail.
In 2007, the municipality sought to launch a housing scheme in the area known as Versailles. In line with the law, the 6 hectares of land were subject to preventive archaeological digs to detect and potential remains. A team from the National Institutre of Preventive Research (Inrap) covered the area with a criss-cross of 44 trenches, up to one metre in depth. They discovered a very rich underlayer, on a perimeter of 2 hectares.
Most notably, they found traces of a destroyed medieval church right by the current cemetery, as well as ancient materials and buildings, including a room with underfloor heating (often used in Roman baths). Inrap’s report concluded that there was a “high archaeological potential”. And it wouldn’t be surprisingly to find traces of an even older human occupation.
How to attract tourists to this tiny isolated commune in the Eymet region? Before getting to that point, Serres-et-Montguyard must pay 1 million euros for the excavations which would permit the digs freeing these treasures from the earth. A colossal sum, totally impossible for a village of this size. The mayor, Pierre Richiero, was counting on the National Funds for Preventive Archaeology (Fnap) to take care of the costs. “Impossible,” Inrap retorted. Because, originally, the project had been to discover how viable the land was to sell in construction plots. However, the Fnap would only intervene in the case of construction aimed at creating properties to rent, with the support of the State to finance the works. Pierre Richieo turned to the public-private organization of Perigord, intended to guide local authorities in construction projects. Unfortunately, “the group has to be owner of the land to spend the money,” the mayor said. “They have other projects elsewhere and don’t find my proposition interesting…”. On the defensive, Eric Chapuis, director of the group, has “nothing else to add”.
The remaining solution would be to sell the land to an individual who would be entitled to subsidies. The mayor has said he is open to any offer. During the wait, the 2 hectares in question have become a sanctuary. Everything that the municipality could do there have to be authorized by Inrap. “We thought about creating a green zone, but that was forbidden as the roots would destroy the relics. We can’t even go over them with a vehicle”. To reduce the cost of the digs, there is of course the participation of volunteers, “but that is only possible in the case of organized digs by university students,” according to Inrap. However, this isn’t the case here. Pierre Richiero just has to find a sponsor. Which isn’t the easiest thing in the world.”
The Archéology de la France website gives details of the dig and its findings.