Several Gallo-Roman agricultural estates were to be found at the edge
of the hills and the great plain. During the 11th century, a church dedicated
to Saint-Martin was built on the hill. The first known quotation concerning
this place dates back to 1049. The site then consisted of a castle mound,
the "Châstelas", the church and the cemetery.
Established on the flat top of the hill (present-day cemetery), inside
a first rempart, the Castle (Castrum Foddi Sancti Martini), first mentionned
in 1336, was the fief of the Urre family (Eurre).
The village was built on the slope, below the castle. Puy Saint Martin
was not a "fortified village", protected by high walls. Like
many of the towns in the area, it possessed a surrounding wall, traces
of which can be detected at the base of some of the tall houses of the
Portal. From the 14th century onwards, these medievals walls, called Barries,
fulfilled their role, more or less successfully, as sanitary barriers,
during epidemics.
The Wars of Religion (1562-1598) were to harm the village, in 1581 the
castle and part of the perched village were distroyed.
A few houses remained on the top behind the church in the quarter called
Barry, perhaps in memory of the remparts. In 1645-1650, the Urre family
had a new castle built (present-day Town Hall), together with a chapel.
During the 19th century the lower part of the village became what was
to remain the town centre: the temple was built in 1854, the church in
1860 and the school in 1897.
In 1861 the population of the village was at its heigth, with 960 inhabitants.
The perched village, called "Lieu" started to lose its inhabitants.
The upper part of the village disappeared. From 1914 to 1918, the population
of the town decreased steadily to 430 inhabitants.
