BLUE ROUTE
HISTORICAL TOUR IN FAUBOURG* DE DESSUS* or
FAUBOURG de SAINTE QUITTERIE.
SITE 5
SEIGNEURIAL MILL also known as ROSAPELLY MILL or TOMAT MILL
(not open to the public)

    It was built in 1459 by Pierre de Montus, abbot of la Case Dieu priory*. It had a double purpose, grains and textile, which accounts for the presence of two grinding wheels and a fuller. It was a communal and seigneurial mill since the abbots of la Case Dieu were entitled to be paid milling duties amounting to 1/16 of the bags brought to the mill. The presence of a fuller indicates how important the textile industry was from the Middles Ages until the 19th century.

    The beautiful bond of the walls confirms the medieval origin of the mill. So does the triangular door topped with a niche whose carved motif was hammered off during the French Revolution.

    From the Middle Ages to the French Revolution the mill belonged to several owners  : barons         Lengros, perhaps the  marquess d'Ornano. In 1786, the Saint Pierre Lesperets,  a rich family in Plaisance, purchased the mill for 25000 pounds. During the monarchy the mill was leased to various millers.

     In the 19th century the Saint Pierre Lesperets and then the next owners the Rosapellys enlarged and modernised the old mill, turning it into an important business.

•    faubourg  : suburb
•    de dessus  : upstream
•    la Case Dieu priory  : an abbey which stood near the village of Beaumarchés.