1st and 4th quarters: blue with three silver towers, their stonework picked out in black. 2nd and 3rd quarters: six alternating blue and silver horizontal stripes with red lion over. The arms of the Pompadours and the Chanacs quartered.

‘Beech wood’ in dialect French

Tumuli, polished axe-heads* and Roman bricks found in various spots bear witness to an archæological past. Also worth noting is the presence of the Knights Templar in the castle that used to stand on the site of Chaumont. In addition, it appears that, according to marriages back and forth, Troche belonged by turns to the Lords of Pompadour and of Comborn. According to Father Anselme, Historian of the Royal House of France and the Grand Officers of the Crown, Ramnulphe Hélie de Pompadour married a Chanac in 1355; certainly, it was in this period that the part of the church was built that bears the arms of Pompadour on a keystone.

* on display in the Town Hall lobby

• Church: : 12th-century apse, with bell-tower from 1741

• Rechèze Lake: Although it really lies in the commune of Beyssac, when they think of La Rechèze, people think of Troche. Nestled in a leafy setting worthy of the Irish lakes, with very rich flora and fauna, Rechèze Lake serves as the border between the communes of Troche and Beyssac. Older folk still remember the shouts and laughter of swimming and fêtes in years gone by. Nowadays the activity at La Rechèze is mainly fishing, as well as walking. After the overflow, let yourself wander, take a random path; you’ll either be following the monks’ canal, or you’ll plunge into the heart of the forest, you’ll go and have a sit at the foot of Madame Lafarge’s Rock. You can also visit Le Glandier charterhouse, and much more besides.

• The ‘couade de Troche’: produced as a cottage industry in the hamlet of Chantegril, together with old-fashioned wooden clogs. The couade, a sort of ladle or dipper with a hollow handle, made from chestnut wood, was used to scoop up water from the bucket on which it was placed, itself standing on the edge of the sink, and allowed a thin trickle of water to flow via the hole through the handle. Depending on the area, it is known as either a couade, a godet or a canole.

(photo : carving a couade by hand. Louis-Henri de Troche 1904–1981)

Tel: +33 (0)5 55 73 36 19 - Fax: +33 (0)5 55 98 73 34
e-mail : mairie.troche@wanadoo.fr
Website : www.troche19.com

Opening hours:
Weekdays (not Weds.) 9am–noon / 2–5pm  -  Saturdays 9am–noon
Town Hall secretary: Ghislaine DOUSSEAUD