Val Castle, locally known as Château de Val, lies next to the village of Lanobre, in the Cantal department in France.

Val Castle was founded in the early 13th century by a young member of the Thynière family. He had moved out of his ancestral home, Thynières Castle, which had just been rebuilt on a hill opposite and above his new castle. At that time Val was called Enval. His castle incorporated an older 10th century keep which had been in his family’s possession since 1150.

In the first half of the 15th century Val Castle was acquired by Guillaume IV d’Estaing from the Thynière family. Guillaume IV, also known as Guillot, was chamberlain to Charles VII of France. He then rebuilt the castle and gave it its present appearance, in 1450. The castle stayed in the Estaing family until 1660, when it was sold by a descendant who had been residing at the court in Versailles and needed the money.

Between 1660 and 1685, several owners restored the dilapidated castle. In the beginning of the 18th century, however, Val Castle had become uninhabitable after which it was abandoned and fell to ruin. The ruined castle was bought by Ignace Dubois de Saint-Etienne, a merchant, in 1779. He had the castle completely restored and made it his home. In 1793, during the French Revolution, it was confiscated and looted. His son Gaspard bought it back in 1805.

In 1814 it was bought by the merchant André Longueville. He just wanted to make money an cut down the castle’s park to sell the wood. While planning to demolish the castle to be able to sell the stones, he was expelled by a court order in 1837.

A new owner then started to restore the castle. In 1865 it was bought by Jules Souchard, the French consul in Boston, USA. He completed the restoration started by the previous owner. The Arcy family inherited the castle in 1896.

In 1942 works started on the new Bort-les-Orgues Dam in the Dordogne river. Val Castle, situated on a hill on the east side of the river valley, was planned to disappear under the waters of a new reservoir. The Arcy family were then expropriated and moved out with all their belongings in 1946. Plans for the reservoir changed which meant the castle would not be flooded. The empty castle was left unattended and was burglarized in 1949, before a guard was installed in 1951.

The council of the town of Bort-les-Orgues bought the castle in 1953. They restored it and turned it into a tourist attraction. It now sits on a small peninsula in the waters of the Bort-les-Orgues Reservoir, its park having disappeared under the waves.

At present Val Castle can be visited for a fee. A very beautiful castle, worth your visit, although it can be overran by tourists during the summer months.