Le quartier des Ayraults

The Ayraults district borders the road that leads to the Château du Pineau, 1.5 km from the village, and the Château du Plessis-Beuvereau, 4 km away (not open to the public). Although the postman and the village warden no longer live there, some inhabitants of the village still garden at Les Ayra...

The postman and the village warden:
The postman and the village warden are familiar characters. They spread the news and visited the hamlets and outlying areas. It wasn't until 1910 that a post office was opened in Saint-Laurent with a postman. It was not until 1920 that the first telephone was installed in Saint-Laurent. The post office closed for good at the end of April 2004. Today, the commune has a relay post office for mail and parcels.

Postman Pierre Plumejeau (Photo 1):
His neighbour, blacksmith Joseph Marné, adapted a bicycle (photo 2) so that Pierre could brake the rear wheel with his left hand. He carried the mail in a saddlebag. He had a very long delivery round in part of the market town and in the vicinity of Saint-Laurent and Bourgneuf. He had an evening round at 6pm and a Sunday round in part of the market town.

Rue Henri de Toulgoet, in the direction of Saint-Lézin, served the largest farms in Saint-Laurent, owned by the châteaux du Pineau and Plessis-Beuvereau.

Pineau and Plessis-Beuvereau
Dome of Château du Pineau (photo 3)
In the Middle Ages, Pineau was a seigneurial fief dating back to the 12th century. In the 17th century, Pineau was transformed into a stately home surrounded by a moat with a drawbridge and several towers and turrets, one of which served as a chapel. Before the French Revolution, 19 tenant farms were attached to it. Anne de Ruillé, the last owner of the houses and land at Pineau, sold them to her farmers in the 1960s (photo 4-Braudière).

Château du Plessis-Beuvereau
In the past, this was a noble residence with a moat, drawbridge, pond, coppice and marmenteaux (tall trees), named after the Beuvereau family who owned it at the beginning of the 13th century. The current château was probably built on the ruins of the old one during the 16th century and restored later by the Boislève family.