Puyravaud itself dates back to the 14^th Century, changing hands many times. The earliest records of the house itself shows that it was in existence in the 16^th Century.

The site boasts one of only four remaining blast furnaces left in the Charente dating back to 1819 (although records suggest it was originally built in the 18^th Century). The furnace was built by order of the King of France, by Leonard Brun after he purchased Puyravaud in 1815.

The forge produced cast iron, it was open for 7 months of the year and employed 60 people. The forge took one month to heat up and operated at 1300 degrees! The forge and corn mills were in full use, until they were demolished at the start of the 20^th Century.   The current fireplaces in the house today have orignal firebacks that were made in the forge. 

During the Second Word War, the property was used by the Bir’Hacheim Resistance movement for much of the War, and believed to have been a hiding place for refugees.  We are fortunate to still have Mr Edgar Bissirier (89 years old) on site regularly. who has worked at Puyravaud since he was a young lad.  Edgar played a part in the Resistance and tells many stories of Colonel Chabanne who led the Movement during the War.  The old barn was used for secret local barn dances, away from the eyes of the authorities, and the silk parachutes that were collected by the resistance from supply drops were used creatively by the local women as under garments.

The Colombier family owned Puyravaud for over 120 years, before it was purchased by in the summer of 2005 by ourselves (Peter & Marion Jackson).  We purchased the 25 acre property with its two lakes from the Sauzet (Colombier) family,  and have since renovated the main house, barn, cottage, gardens and of course the lakes in order to offer high quality carp fishing holidays for you to enjoy.