Moulin à vent de Lignerolles
MonumentHidden Treasure
Moulin à vent de Lignerolles, located in Coinces (Loiret), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Coinces, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0310, 1.7029
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098757
A sentinel of stone and wood standing on the Beauce plateaus, the Lignerolles mill in Coinces embodies the milling spirit of the Beauce region; it has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1942 in recognition of its exemplary traditional craftsmanship.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Standing on the gentle heights of the Beauce plateau, the Lignerolles windmill belongs to a family of rural buildings known as tower mills, typical of the grain-growing plains of the Loiret region. Its stocky, proud silhouette stands out against the immense sky of the Beauce, the land of wheat, where endless horizons have always provided millers with the steady winds that are essential to their work. Just a few kilometres from Orléans, Coinces is one of the last remaining witnesses to the agricultural economy that shaped the region for several centuries. What makes the Lignerolles mill truly unique is its testimonial value in a landscape where mills have almost all disappeared. The Beauce region once boasted hundreds of such structures, but only a handful have survived the centuries with sufficient integrity to merit protection as Historic Monuments, granted as early as 1942. This early classification testifies to the remarkable heritage awareness of the local players, at a time when the emergencies of the Second World War dominated the scene. The visitor experience is above all sensory and contemplative. To approach the mill is to read in the stone and wood the forgotten gestures of the millers who used to climb up there to watch the milling, adjust the wings, or watch for changes in the wind. The attentive visitor will find traces of a thousand years of know-how: the solid masonry of the tower, the skilfully erected framework, the mechanical ingenuity of machinery entirely dependent on wind power. The bucolic setting of Coinces, a discreet village nestling between the Beauce and Orléans regions, is an ideal complement to the visit. Cereal fields as far as the eye can see, roads lined with poplars and the changing skies of the Loire Valley offer photographers and walkers alike an authentically sober setting. The Moulin de Lignerolles is also an invitation to slow down, to capture the permanence of the landscape in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the modern world.
Architecture
The Lignerolles mill is of the tower-mill type, the dominant architectural form in Beauce from the 17th century onwards. Its cylindrical tower, built of local limestone quarried in the Gâtinais or on the Beauce plain, is several storeys high - generally three to four storeys - with thick walls at the bottom, often over a metre thick, providing the stability needed to withstand the forces exerted by the mechanism and the rotating wings. The entrance door, facing into the prevailing wind, is pierced in the lower third of the tower, topped by a semi-circular arch typical of rural buildings in the Orléans region. The cap, or hat, crowning the tower is the most remarkable technical feature of the building. Pivoting, it allows the four wings to face the wind without moving the whole structure - a major innovation in the tower mill compared with the pivot mill. Traditionally, this cap was made of oak and covered with shingles or zinc. The wings, which usually spanned twelve to fifteen metres from end to end, were covered with linen or hemp canvas stretched over wooden frames. Inside, the milling machinery consisted of a horizontal drive shaft, elm or cormwood gears and sandstone millstones for grinding grain.
Related Figures
Les meuniers successifs de Lignerolles, dont les noms se perdent dans les registres paroissiaux de CoincesLes inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier de classement de 1942Les artisans maçons et charpentiers beaucerrons constructeurs du moulin (XVIIe-XVIIIe siècle)Les seigneurs ou propriétaires terriens de la paroisse de Coinces sous l'Ancien RégimeLes membres de la Société archéologique et historique de l'Orléanais, pionniers de la documentation des moulins du Loiret
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Moulin à vent de Lignerolles located?
Moulin à vent de Lignerolles is located in Coinces, Loiret department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Moulin à vent de Lignerolles built?
Moulin à vent de Lignerolles dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Moulin à vent de Lignerolles open to visitors?
Moulin à vent de Lignerolles is currently closed to visitors.