Château de Bénouville

It was designed in 1769 by architect Claude Nicolas Ledoux and built in 1770-74 and 1776-80 at the request of Hyppolite-François Sanguin, marquis of Livry (1715–1789) and his marquise Thérèse Bonne Gillain de Bénouville, heiress of the property.

The château is located on the west side of the Canal de Caen à la Mer, on the southeast edge of the town of Bénouville, and just southwest of the Pegasus Bridge, made memorable on D-Day.

During World War II the château/maternity hospital was run since 1935 by Madame Lea Vion surnamed 'la comtesse', director (from 1947-1953 she was even mayor of Benouville) who also led a resistance group of the GMO belonging to the réseau 'Centurie'.

Earlier Hans Hoeller had frustratingly found that his anti-tank troop could not pass through Benouville, because of too heavy resistance from British parachutists belonging to A Company, 7th Para Battalion under command of Nigel Taylor.

Hoeller and his colleagues were subsequently forced by Wally Parr's shelling to retreat downstairs immediately before opening their own fire on the Ox and Bucks defending the canal bridge nearby.