Prochain point : lat="49.0413" lon="1.8739"
The Old Mill
The oldest of the seven mills that once operated in the village
A mill with multiple uses...
The Old Mill goes back to at least 1782 when it was already recorded on a land register. It was powered by l’Eau Brillante brook, which turned the oak bucket water wheel. This system, invented in the late eighteenth century, is mostly used on low flow streams. The water was channeled to the bucket wheel along a millrace, cascading onto the wheel to generate a strong driving force. The waterfall can still be seen to the left of the mill. In the nineteenth century it served as a gristmill. This former activity is still reflected by the architecture. The miller’s window, protected by a small overhanging roof and a railing, was used to pass up the bags of grain stored in the granaries. Previously, the mill had also been used for tanning leather or for fulling cloth, hence its other name "Moulin à Foulon" (fulling mill). Fulling consisted of beating the cloth with wooden hammers operated by the force of the water.
... Fed by l’Eau Brillante brook
L’Eau Brillante brook also fed the small washing places along the river. These were very simple arrangements of one or two hard, flat stones sloping from the track down to the water. Several washing places were installed along the waterways. At the top of the hill, we counted three of them. Only the mill washhouse is still visible with its shed and two walls by the millrace.
