Forge de Beaujeu

English translation

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History

The forge of Beaujeu was founded in 1679, by the master forger François Monnois with the authorisation of the marquis d'Hyenne, lord of Beaujeu. Property of the Hennezel from 1707, the establishment was leased at the time of the Revolution to Joseph and Claude Thomas Falatieu, who also owned the tinplate manufactory of Bains les Bains (Vosges). Declared national property, the works were bought in 1798 by Joseph Falatieu, also purchaser of the neighbouring establishment of Montureux. The forge was probably then suppressed; the blast furnace for its part operated until around 1879. The building was subsequently transformed into a bean mill. After 1923, electricity was manufactured on the premises for the account of the EDF. The forge of Beaujeu is situated several kilometres to the north of the village, to the west of the hamlet of Pierrejux, on the edge of the Saône. Preceded by the house of the steward, then of the owner, several buildings are preserved, following the axis formed by the two main canals of the hydraulic network: in part workers' dwellings (19th century), the blast furnace building, a large masonry hall, a mill, and other ancillary structures. Although it has been transformed, the blast furnace building still houses the blast furnace tower, dated 1812, probably one of the rarest and oldest surviving examples in the region.