Le Moulinage des Mazeaux

Europe's last complete silk mill

It’s been a long road from the time the Moulinage des Mazeaux was in operation to the safeguarding of this unique heritage and the restoration of this site, which has been selected in 2023 for the Loto du patrimoine (Heritage Lottery) led by Stéphane Bern with the support of the French Ministry of Culture and La Française des Jeux. The project is also supported by the Fondation du patrimoine Auvergne.

On the banks of the Mazeaux stream, just outside Tence, along the departmental road leading to Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, the former Mazeaux mill officially ceased operations in 1996.
But what is it today?

The place and its history

Le Moulinage is located near Tence in the Haute Loire, in the village of Les Mazeaux, where the stream flows under the road.

Antoine Grand, a farmer from Montregard, bought the property in 1876 and handed it over to two successive tenants. Then, in 1894, Jean Marie Grand, son of the previous owner, took over the mill. The mill was handed down from father to son until 1996.
The mill, which nestles below the farm, is fed by a 200-meter-long canal.

At the far end of the courtyard, you come to a large building in local granite with a lauze roof, extended perpendicularly by a characteristic low-roofed building with red tiles.

When you step inside, it ‘s as if the workers were actually there.
It’s all there: machines, reeling banks, two-storey twisting mills:

reels,
silk skeins,
tools,
religious images on the wall…

Local industry Emblematic 19th-century factory

The Moulinage des Mazeaux was a factory where raw silk thread was prepared for weaving.

In this mill, work was carried out on a contract basis, and finishing work was paid for by weight. Silk mills sent their bales of silk from China, Japan, Brousse in Turkey… The raw silk floats were then soaked, dewatered and reeled onto reels using a tavelle.

Then came the doubling of the threads and finally the real work of the mill, the twisting. This is how the woven yarns, resulting from the combination of twisting and assembling, could be used to produce any range of fabrics. They are called: weft, crêpe, voile, organin, grenadine, mousseline… Knowing that any irregularity will be seen in the fabric, it’s easy to understand how crucial the milling or opening operation was in silk making.

Footage shot in 1999

Guided tours

The owners of Le Moulinage, in partnership with the Haut-Lignon Tourist Office, offer a calendar of guided tours.
The mill is also open for the Journées de Patrimoine de Pays in June and the Journées Européennes du Patrimoine in September.

Les Mazeaux is closed from November 01 to May 31.

The project : Saving an industrial heritage

Waterproof buildings to preserve structures and collections

The various buildings are in need of major work.
The roofs of both buildings need to be redone.
The waterwheel and pipe need to be completely restored.
The 2nd building houses the collection of silk mills (rare because they are two-storey).

The owners would like to preserve the image of an authentic place of memory, and promote cultural mediation by organizing exhibitions, workshops and discussion forums.

Selected in the Mission Bern’sGrand Loto du Patrimoine 2022, a handsome sum has been awarded and “this will enable us to finally begin the rehabilitation and restoration of our heritage, after years of struggle and combat.”

Work in several stages:

uncovering the old lauzes and sorting them on the ground,
sweeping the clay soil,
removal of the old boards.
After all that, we had a few unforeseen problems with the roof structure: many of its key parts had to be replaced. Not surprising for a 150-year-old lady…

The work will now continue with the installation of the boards, the zinc work and finally the slates. We’re fortunate to be working with a brilliant company that has a complete mastery of specific roofing techniques (for the Moulinage, the lauze).
Grand – Giraud families

Small heritage to save

Windmills, beatus houses, fortified houses, chapels, churches: there‘ s no shortage of historical testimonies. All these sites, often unique, sometimes require roof renovation, building refurbishment, painting restoration… Cultural heritage deserves to be promoted by its owners, whether private individuals or local authorities. Let’s work together to safeguard our heritage.

House of Beate de Pouzols

Fortified houses, castles and small heritage sites