Informations directionnelles

Se diriger vers le centre du village en prenant le chemin de la mare aux pois. Continuer tout droit jusqu’à l’intersection où se trouve le manoir des Bruyères.

Mare aux Pois Wash House
Traditional in form but built with unusual materials

 

 

A wash house made of millstone...

This nineteenth century wash house, which is set a little apart to the north of the village, is powered by a small spring. It consists of two pools separated by a low wall: one for washing and one upstream for rinsing. On one side we can still see the series of washboards made of large sloping stone blocks. The peculiarity of this wash house lies in the three tall millstone walls that delineate the washing area that would have protected the women from the wind.

 

 

... mined in the bois des Garennes

There were two sizeable millstone mines in nineteenth century Lainville. The quarry was situated in the Bois des Garennes. The stones were conveyed to the landing stages (at Chemin des Bruyères and Chemin du Réservoir) in wagons on narrow gauge rails, from where they were transported by horse cart. The wood at Bois des Garennes forms part of the former royal forest of Arthies, and the King’s warden, the seigneur of La Roche-Guyon, was responsible for administering and managing it. The seigneur of Lainville did not have authority for all matters relating to hunting, fishing and timber; he could only address questions of justice (according to the Lainville declaration of June 4, 1459).