Le Moulin de Crevant

"Meunier, tu dors, ton moulin va trop vite

Meunier, tu dors ton moulin va trop fort

Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop vite

Ton moulin, ton moulin va trop fort"

These words from a very old childhood song are probably not accurate since I can't imagine any miller having time to sleep on the job!  What a lot of work involved in keeping a mill operating!

An example of one of the first grinding wheels.  You can note that it's made from different pieces of stone, but also that there are grooves on the surface to help separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Moulin de Crevant was built in the 19th century but stopped operating in 1989.  It's been a museum since 2001 and bears witness to the history of the miller's trade.

Mélanie was an exceptional guide.  She's passionate about her subject and also explains things very well.  She has a talent in knowing how much to say, responding to all questions very knowledgeably.

With two interested engineers to deal with, she spent much longer than her allotted hour with us.  We were there for 1 hr and 45 minutes!  But we came out with so much information.

The bags needed to be patched because of age and also because some pesky rodents managed to get to the grain, despite a number of cats on the premise.

The name Quillet A. is the last generation of millers at the Moulin de Crevant.

Filling the bags with flour

There are four levels to this flour mill.

In 1903, the paddle-wheel and milling stones were replaced with a turbine and cylinders, and the sieving process was improved.  This equipment is still operational!

You may recall that we ate at the Restaurant Moulin de Crevant a while back.  That is part of the mill that was used for storage.


www.thouars-communaute.fr   Un patrimoine toujours vivant.