Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare
MonumentHidden Treasure
Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare, located in Lamballe (Département 22), 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
- Lamballe, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4640, -2.5241
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089234
Built on four levels, the Saint-Lazare tower-mill has watched over Lamballe since the 18th century. The only example of a restored working flour mill in the Côtes-d'Armor region, it combines Breton vernacular architecture with a living milling heritage.
History
Standing on the heights of Lamballe like a stone lighthouse above the Breton bocage, the Saint-Lazare windmill is one of the few remaining witnesses to the industrious rural life that punctuated Brittany during the Age of Enlightenment. Its slender silhouette, topped by a revolving hat and animated by its four wings, stands out in the landscape with Breton discretion, far removed from postcard mills. It is a sober, honest building, designed to work the flour from the surrounding countryside. What immediately sets this tower mill apart is the continuity of its purpose. Where so many similar buildings have been converted into residences or left to fall into disrepair, the Saint-Lazare mill has maintained, without any notable interruption, its original purpose: to grind grain. This faithfulness to its original purpose makes it a living document of the agricultural and craft history of inland Brittany, far more eloquent than a static museum. The visit offers a rare plunge into the bowels of an authentic milling mechanism. On four superimposed levels, each floor reveals its own function: sluices, millstones, hoppers, wooden and wrought iron gears bear witness to an ingenious mechanism driven entirely by the force of the wind. The cross-beam wings, identically reconstructed in 1974 on the basis of the originals, complete the reconstruction of the silhouette that Lambaillais farmers knew in the 18th century. The rural setting surrounding the mill is an invitation to take a stroll. The paths leading up to the building offer changing views of the Armorican landscape, particularly striking in the late afternoon when the Atlantic light gilds the rubble stones. Families, photographers and rural history enthusiasts will all find something to suit them, in an atmosphere free from the hustle and bustle of tourism.
Architecture
The Saint-Lazare mill belongs to the type known as the "tower mill", the dominant form in Brittany from the 17th century onwards. Its cylindrical tower, built of cement-bonded granite rubble, rises to four successive levels, giving it a height above the regional average and a slender silhouette that is remarkable in the Lambaillais landscape. The whole structure is topped with slate, a traditional Breton material par excellence, which ensures that the revolving roof is watertight and gives it its characteristic dark appearance. The interior layout follows the classic organisation of flour tower mills: the lower level houses the flour bunkering and storage room, the intermediate floors house the running and lying millstones on their wooden bases, as well as the grain feed hoppers, while the upper level, directly connected to the cap's mechanics, houses the wooden gears and the main shaft transmitting the power from the wings to the millstones. This functional verticality dictates the use of a miller's staircase - a steep, tight spiral staircase - to structure the interior space. The transverse wings, restored in 1974, are the most visible and symbolic element of the building. This type of wing, characterised by a cross-shaped wooden frame to which slats are fixed to receive the canvas sails, was the most common form in western France before the adoption of Dutch-inspired louvered wings in the 19th century. Restoring them to their original condition reflects a heritage conservation approach that is as attentive to technical authenticity as it is to aesthetics.
Related Figures
Les meuniers successifs de la famille lambaillaise ayant exploité le moulin du XVIIIe au XXe siècleLes artisans charpentiers bretons ayant restitué les ailes à traverse en 1974Les inspecteurs des Monuments historiques ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription en 1977Le duc de Penthièvre, seigneur de Lamballe au XVIIIe siècle, dont l'influence sur le développement agricole de la région favorisa la construction de tels équipements meuliers
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare located?
Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare is located in Lamballe, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare built?
Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare open to visitors?
Moulin à vent de Saint-Lazare is currently closed to visitors.