Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The brick factory of the Chauffetières, located at L'Hôme-Chamondot in Orne, was attested in 1760 in the Encyclopedia as property of the Marquis de Gontaud-Biron. Originally, it included an oven, a hall, a dwelling and a barn. Its activity was based on local clay extraction, transformed into hand cast bricks (1,000/day) or mechanically (2,000/day). The products, wood-cooked flamed bricks, were intended for heritage restoration sites.

In the early 19th century, the brick factory expanded with a second oven and a new hall. The cooking process, unchanged since the 18th century, lasted eight days: two days of preheating, three days of great fire, and then a week of underground choking. Annual production, concentrated between May and November, required 60 stères of wood and 30 m3 of clay per furnace. Operated by the Fontaine family since 1920, the family company partially modernized its facilities around 1984 with a drying shed.

Partially classified as historical monuments in 1995 (drying rooms and oven remaining), the brick factory illustrates the durability of traditional techniques. Despite the destruction of an oven in 1990, the site remains active, providing bricks for listed monuments. Its architecture combines buildings in flat tiles (fours), metal structures (drying), and a typical 19th century employer housing.

The brick factory is part of a territory marked by rural industry, where local clay and the nearby forest (wood source) have allowed uninterrupted activity since the 18th century. Its role in the conservation of the French architectural heritage makes it a rare witness to pre-industrial know-how still in use.

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