Ruined during the 16th century and completely abandoned since the 18th, it was saved from destruction when Louis Bessière, an inhabitant of Pouancé, decided to restore the building in the 1960s.

Despite volunteers and amateur excavations over 40 years, little is known about the structure of the castle, due to a lack of deep archaeological surveys.

Fragments of Merovingian sarcophagus were found in the walls of the nearby church at Saint-Aubin, proving the existence of a human settlement in Pouancé before the construction of the castle.

Guillaume III, lord of Pouancé, established a levee on the Verzée river, thus forming a lake alongside the castle, protecting the western front of the fortification, the side that faced Brittany.

Their grandson, Jean II of Beaumont, failed to produce an heir with his first wife Isabeau of Harcourt, and subsequently married Marguerite of Poitiers.

After his release, financially ruined by the ransom, he decided to put pressure on his uncle John VI, Duke of Brittany to pay the remaining part of his mother's dowry.

The castle of Pouancé was besieged for 5 weeks by 6000 men of the Duke's army and his English allies, and bombed by 7 cannons.

[14] Eleven years after this siege, in 1443, an English army, led by John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, besieged the castle.

The Breton army attacked in October 1467[16] and besieged the castle, which was defended by Sir de Villier in the name of the King of France, without Jean's consent.

In 1472, Louis XI spent time in the fortress with more than 5,000 men when he learn Breton troops were gathering in La Guerche.

[18] In 1488, Louis II de la Trémoille assembled 12,000 men in Pouancé before launching the siege of Châteaubriant, starting a military campaign against Brittany that defeated the independent duchy.

In 1562, the seigneury fell into the hands of the Cossé-Brissac family, more precisely to Charles II de Cossé, Duke of Brissac.

[19] Despite a desire for neutrality, the town and the castle were occupied in 1593 by 50 soldiers of Charles, Duke of Mayenne, a member of the Catholic League.

[21] During the 17th and the 18th centuries, some rooms were still inhabitable, since several people were mentioned as residing inside: a gardener in 1620, a lieutenant of bailliage died there in 1671, and an officer dwelled there between 1756 and 1767.

[23] However, many of the officers in charge of the administration of the seigneury were living outside of the walled city of Pouancé, inside their own residences.

[25] During the second half of the 18th century, inhabitants of the town decided to partially deconstruct the gatehouse, as well as fill in the moat and build several dwellings and workshops inside the bailey, along the curtain wall, thus commencing a long period of degradation.

After surveys showed the risk of collapse, the Marquis of Montault, owner of the castle, evacuated the remaining residents.