History

The history of the Manor of Ranléon starts in the 13th century, with the construction of the first Manor. The first building of the second Manor was constructed at the exact same place, during the 17th century.
Then it was during the 18th century that the second building of the Manor was constructed. Finally the third part was built in the 19th century. The Manor is shaped like a ‘U’, closed by a stone arch.

In the 70 hectares of the property, you can also see a chapel, dating from the 19th century. Once a year, a mass is celebrated and the chapel is also used for family events. The Manor of Ranléon has been preserved within the same family since its origin thus ensuring a family continuity. The current occupants represent the 22nd generation.
But the Manor is not only a Breton building affair… It is also part of History during WWII. Indeed, Ms. Marie Noémie Halna du Fretay secretly lodged many resistants in the attic of the house during the war. Her door was always open and anybody who wanted to find shelter in her walls could do so. Today, the “seal” still exists.

The eldest son of Ms Halna du Fretay was also recognized for his courage during the 2nd World War. Maurice, born in 1920, was just 19 years old when the war began. He was going to enter to the Law faculty at Rennes when he enrolled in the French air army. Before the war, he had started to learn flying at Dinan airfield, 15 km away from the Manor, and he had even bought a small airplane, a Zlin XII. In 1940 he became a student at Aulnat. After the armistice in June, he was demobilized without having been able to be part in an active way in the defense of France. He came back to the Manor with the firm idea to continue the fight and leave for England. After several failed ideas, he finally decided to rebuild his personal plane (that he had to demote before the war when the Dinan airfield had become a military airfield) and to take off from the avenue of the property to join General de Gaulle in England on November the 15th, 1940.

After a short amount of training, he achieved his first mission within Royal Air Force on November 27th of 1941.

He carried out many missions in the North of France until August 1942, when his plane disappeared in seas during the “Jubilée” operation on Dieppe.
On its Hurricane Mark II, he had written these mottos: « breizh dalc’h mad » (« Brittany, hang on! ») and « Kentoc’h mervel » (« Rather death »), the beginning of Anne de Bretagne’s motto «Rather death that the stain ».
He had been made knight of Légion d’honneur, companion of the Liberation and received the British Empire medal. He also received many other decorations.
In 1946, General de Gaulle came to the manor to inaugurate the stone dedicated to Maurice.
The current owner of the manor is the direct nephew of Maurice Halna du Fretay.