Urban Exploration - Charles & Pierre's Old Flour Mill

We received photos from a traveler and compiled them into a historical summary.

Here is a visit to an abandoned flour mill. Completely unexpected, it is buried within a lush natural setting, invisible from the road. Only the persistent and stubborn research of Bénédicte made its discovery possible; it was also she who carried out the research in the cemetery.

This is a former flour mill—a mill, then—where flour was produced from grain. The work consists of removing the grain's outer shell: the bran and the middlings. Then, the product is ground to obtain the flour.

The top floor, with its woody atmosphere and white walls, is occupied by two vast "plansichter" machines—what was formerly called a bolter (though smaller). The device is composed of several sieves of different mesh sizes, allowing for the extraction of the milled products. The floor below, with a red atmosphere, houses the grinders.

This milling equipment is extremely common, but in light of local history and the state of preservation, it is undoubtedly precious.

The building contains the workshop on the "left" side. At the top is the bran processing, in the middle is the grinding, and at the bottom is the bagging area (sacherie). Today, this bagging area has been used to store a considerable volume of various odds and ends. To the right is the living quarters, which are very touching. There, many traces of the lives of the last occupants can be found.

The mill was created in 1884 by the grandparents (the grandfather Pierre, in fact), and carried on by the parents: Jean and Marie. Jean was born in 1898 and died in 1943. Marie was born in 1897 and died in 1990. Given the dates, it would not be surprising if Jean had died at the front.

They had three children: Pierre, the eldest; Charles, his brother; and Marinette, the youngest sister. Pierre was born in 1926 and died in 1992. Charles was born in 1929 and died in 2021. Marinette—of whom not a single trace can be found in the house—was born in 1938 and died in 1965. Passing away at 27 is very young.

Pierre and Charles operated the mill after their parents. They produced only T150 rye flour, as they did not possess any other sieves. They turned out one ton per day: these men were forces of nature. The operation ceased upon the death of Pierre, who worked like a galley slave until his final day. Both were avid fishermen and enjoyed themselves thoroughly in the adjacent stream.

The family is buried in a very well-crafted vault. The base is made of Tarn Grey granite and the headstone of Indian Black, reflecting a high level of care. According to our information, the estate is vacant despite the large family; the property is "ownerless" (sans-maître). The local press reports on the loss of the site's heritage, which appears, so to speak, inevitable.

It is a very delicate place. Ransacked as usual, unfortunately, but we found the site nonetheless imbued with poetry and gentleness.