Gironde’s mills
Moulin à eau fortifié à Bassane
As far back as the 10th century, the banks of the county’s rivers (the Dordogne, the Garonne, the Isle, the Dropt, the Ciron and the Leyre) and streams were dotted with watermills. They are above all to be found in Entre-deux-Mers, the Bazas region and the south of the Libourne region, areas with well-watered undulating landscapes. Windmills began to be built in the late 12th century, and are mostly to be found in the Médoc and Blaye regions and on the Gironde Estuary, on hillsides swept by westerly and north-westerly winds.
Zoom in : The Association Girondine des Amis des Moulins
The Association Girondine des Amis des Moulins (AGAM) works in partnership with mill owners and municipalities to help protect, restore and promote Gironde’s watermills and windmills. It brings together industrial archaeology and history buffs, researchers and mill owners – anyone, indeed, with a passion for the subject! – and federates the local associations and municipalities whose job it is to ready the sites for public visits after their restoration. It also provides members with expert assessment services along with technical and legal advice.
It publishes a newsletter, carries out research and inventorying work along with studies focusing on mills and industrial heritage, organises trips and theme-based days, and participates in the annual National Mills and European Milling Heritage Days held over the third weekend in May. Many mills also open their doors to the public during the European Heritage Days in September.
Enquiries:
AGAM 304, rue Pelleport 33800 Bordeaux
+33 6 10 53 17 51
www.fdmf.fr
www.aramaquitaine.fr
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Gironde via its fortified mills
Unlike anything else in Europe , and to be found only in Entre-deux-Mers and along the left bank of the Garonne, these watermills are remarkable for their architectural characteristics.
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Watermills open to the public
In general, mill architecture in Gironde tends to be simple and lacking in ornamentation. In the 18th century, a period of economic prosperity, some mills left their mediaeval structures behind them and were modernised. Watercourses were equipped with dykes diverting their flow.
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Gironde’s windmills
There are many windmills in France. They are almost all flour mills and can be seen not only along the Atlantic and English Channel coasts and in the Paris Basin, but also in the south, on the Guyenne-Lauragais-Provence road.
