A little history of Barly castle
And also
The tops
We find a castle here since the Middle-Ages, fief of Barly's lords. When the last family member died at the beginning of the 15th century, the castle fell to the Blin family at the end of the 17th century. Antoine Blin, who was a former captain, transformed the old fortress in 1780 and raised the current one.
When Antoine passed away, his son Jean Blin de Varlemont continued the building works: outhouses in 1790 and inner decoration at the same time, designed by a sculptor born in Arras, Lepage. In those days, the French Revolution didn't reach Barly castle! Strange thing... everyone went about their own business, the family kept an eye on the site...
Archives mentioned payments for the inner decoration done the day... king of France Louis XVI was executed! Then, Barly became bishop of Arras' main residence. The castle was besieged by the Prussian army, then transformed into a hospital during the World War I. It was occupied by German soldiers in 1940. It was damaged, but fortunately the new owner made huge restoration works in 1970.