Moulin à eau dit "de la Chaussée" ou du "grand Chenillé"
MonumentHidden Treasure
Dernier moulin à roue tournante sur la Mayenne, le moulin de la Chaussée à Chenillé-Changé conjugue six siècles d'histoire meunière, des mécanismes préservés et un écrin de verdure angevin d'une rare authenticité.
History
On the quiet banks of the Mayenne, in Chenillé-Changé, the Moulin de la Chaussée - also known as the Moulin du Grand Chenillé - is an exceptional example of Anjou's rural industrial heritage. Listed as a Historic Monument since 2005, it holds a title that few buildings of this type can still lay claim to: that of housing the last working waterwheel on the Mayenne, a fact that sets it radically apart from all the restored mills designed purely as museums. What makes the site truly unique is the clear superimposition of its different eras. The original building, whose foundations date back to the 16th century, sits in seamless dialogue with the four-storey square tower erected at the turn of the 20th century to house the industrial milling equipment. This architectural graft, daring for its time, tells the story of the transformation of the farming world from small-scale milling to mechanised production. The tour revolves around the living spectacle of the wheel in motion, with the regular rustling and lapping of the water providing a sensory experience in its own right. The interior mechanisms - millstones, wooden and cast-iron gears, hoppers - retain a rare coherence that allows visitors to intuitively understand the process of turning grain into flour. Photography enthusiasts will find exceptional compositions, with reflections on the river and masonry weathered by the centuries. The natural setting adds to the immersion: the mill is set in an unspoilt Anjou bocage landscape, bordered by the planted banks of the Mayenne, typical of this valley, which is particularly popular with river tourism enthusiasts. The commune of Chenillé-Changé, whose medieval market town also boasts a Romanesque church, invites you to take a wider tour of this discreet but deeply endearing part of the Maine-et-Loire region.
Architecture
The moulin de la Chaussée is a composite structure, the result of successive layers of construction. The main building, which dates back to the 16th century, is typical of the river mills of Anjou: a low building made of local shale and tufa rubble, with a low-pitched roof directly over the causeway, which controls the waterfall that feeds the wheel. The wheel, with its troughs or paddles depending on the height of the available head, is the centrepiece of the system: its presence in operation makes it a living technical object of irreplaceable documentary value. The 1902 addition significantly altered the silhouette of the complex. The four-storey square tower, built of dressed rubble with ashlar window frames, introduced an industrial verticality that was foreign to traditional rural architecture. Its large, small-paned windows, designed to illuminate the work rooms, and its solid wooden floors supported by a sturdy roof frame, bear witness to the functional rationality typical of the industrial architecture of the Belle Époque. Inside, the successive levels allow you to follow the grain's journey from its reception at the top to the flour extracted at the bottom, according to the universal gravitational principle of milling. Sandstone or flint millstones, bluteries, hornbeam gears and metal parts coexist, forming a mechanical whole whose coherence illustrates several centuries of popular engineering applied to the processing of cereals.
Related Figures
Seigneurs du château des Rues (XVIe siècle) — suzerains féodaux auxquels le moulin était rattaché en 1551Meuniers anonymes des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles — exploitants successifs qui maintinrent l'outil en activité sous l'Ancien RégimePropriétaires de 1902 — commanditaires de la tour de minoterie industrielle, acteurs de la modernisation du siteInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (début XXIe siècle) — experts ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription abouti en 2005
