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Chenonceau Historical buildings

My Favourite Windmill – Mon moulin préféré

photo_156_favourite_windmillI have already posted photos of other post mills,particularly the Saint-Jacques mill, but the Agrémonts windmill is my favourite. It’s just near Bléré and not far from château de Chenonceau. This type of windmill is called a cavier in French because the miller was also a winegrower with a wine cellar (or cave).. Agrémonts was built between 1845 and 1848 and is 18 metres high. It was renovated by the Bléré municipal council. The base, called a masse, consists of 4 vaulted cellars made of local tufa stone. The massereau or central part housing the mill rooms and milling machinery, is surmounted by a tufa stone cone, the only one to have survived the ravages of war and time. At the top, the hucherolle (which housed the drive shaft) and the sails (equipped with a Berton system) have been entirely reconstructed.
J’ai déjà publié des photos d’autres moulins cavier, notamment le moulin Saint-Jacques, mais c’est celui d’Agrémonts à côté de Bléré et non loin du château de Chenonceau qui est mon préféré. Ce type de moulin s’appelle cavier parce que le meunier exerçait un 2ème métier, celui de vigneron. Le moulin d’Agrémonts qui fait 18 mètres de haut fut construit entre 1845 et 1848. Il fut rénové par la ville de Bléré. La base, appelée la masse, comprend 4 caves voûtées construites en tuffeau. Le massereau ou partie centrale qui comprenait les chambres des meules, est surmonté d’une cône en tuffeau, la seule à avoir survécu aux ravages de la guerre et du temps. En haut, la hucherolle en bois (dans laquelle se transforme le moment rotatif vertical des ailes en mouvement rotatif horizontal pour alimenter la meule) et les voiles (équipées d’un système Berton) ont été entièrement reconstruites.

6 replies on “My Favourite Windmill – Mon moulin préféré”

The miller cum winegrower information is on the Bléré website. I had read that the bases were cellars where the milling equipment is kept and Jean Michel thought that was the origin of the word too. I’ve checked out a few other sources. All mention “caves” and “cavique” but don’t say what sort of cellars are involved.

Beautiful! I wish we could somehow share this windmill (and many of your other photo’s/comments) on Facebook with our other friends.

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