Forges de Caussanus

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Founded in 1821 by Jean-Baptiste Garrigou, this forge comprised in 1830 two charcoal-fired blast furnaces, three refinery hearths, two rolling mills and two reverberatory furnaces, three halls for charcoal stores, workshops, workers' dwellings and the director's house. The two blast furnaces forming a unique pyramidal mass are in very well-dressed ashlar. To this mass surrounded (by metal ties) is attached a third small furnace in less well-dressed ashlar, probably of later date; the lining of these three furnaces is intact. The front facade with pediment of the old casting hall is particularly well finished, with its openings and its round arch portal. Of the forge building only vestiges remain. Successively attached to various companies including the Paris-Orléans Railway Company, the forge stopped in 1880; a phosphates plant succeeded it around 1884; finally, after the Second World War, the chemical works Bozel-Malétra which occupied it then and manufactured detergent, abandoned the site. It is one of the rare ensembles of blast furnaces in the region that has been preserved.