Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Pont-Long tile factory, located in Marcilly-en-Villette, Loiret, was founded in 1852 and operated until the 1960s. This artisanal site illustrates traditional production techniques, with a vertical oven with a truncated fireplace and a wooden quadrangular cooking chamber. Two separate-period dryers complete the whole, the oldest of which preserves brick walls with skeletons and a tile roof arranged according to the third-party method. The tilery, although unmaintained since its closure, saw its major elements (ovens and dryers) classified as Historic Monument in 1999.

Production adapted to technical developments, especially in the 1920s, with modifications to make hollow elements. The site, of modest size, also included an isolated tile house, typical of the rural units of the period. The oven, still in good condition, bears witness to the robustness of the installations. Together, this reflects local economic activity related to construction in a region where terracotta handicrafts played a key role in habitat and infrastructure.

The Pont-Long tile factory is part of the industrial heritage of the Centre-Val de Loire, where small production units such as this one contributed to the urbanization and agriculture of the 19th century. Its gradual abandonment after the 1960s coincided with the increasing mechanization of industry and the decline of craft methods. Today, the site offers a rare example of preserved semi-rural tilery, with architectural and technical features representative of its time.

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