Construction of the priory 1155-1176 (≈ 1166)
Foundation by the monks of Grandmont.
1229
Documented flood
Documented flood 1229 (≈ 1229)
Out of the Guiperreux pond dam.
XVIIIe siècle
De-acralization
De-acralization XVIIIe siècle (≈ 1850)
Turned into a seigneurial castle.
XIXe siècle
Industrial use
Industrial use XIXe siècle (≈ 1865)
Become a tin factory.
18 juillet 2014
Chapter classification
Chapter classification 18 juillet 2014 (≈ 2014)
Registration Historic monument.
8 février 2024
Site classification
Site classification 8 février 2024 (≈ 2024)
Protection extended to remains.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The entire chapel (cad. C 141, cf. plan annexed to the decree): registration by order of 18 July 2014 ; The following parts of the site of the Moulineaux, located road of Epernon, on plots 141, 142 and 144, shown in the cadastre section C, as delimited on the annexed plan: the bridge allowing access to the enclosure, the walls of enclosure, comprising the four corner towers and the bodies of buildings integrated with the walls and its moats, the pavilion housing the oven, the remains of the elevations of the former seigneurial house and the former nave of the Priorial Church, the well and the ground of the plot inside the enclosure: inscription by order of 8 February 2024
Key figures
Auguste Moutié - Local historian
Author of charters on Poigny (1846).
Origin and history
The chapel of the Moulineaux is the last vestige of a priory of the order of Grandmont, founded between 1155 and 1176 in the forest of Rambouillet. Only the choir of the Prioral Church remains, characterized by an apse adorned with three bays and, on the outside, four columns with deciduous capitals. Inside, a sink and liturgical cabinet recall its religious use. The site, desecrated in the 18th century, was transformed into a seigneurial castle and then a tin factory before being abandoned.
The priory inserts into a landscape shaped by man and water: the surrounding ponds (Guiperreux, Carré, Angennes), partially artificial, are attested as early as 1229 by a text mentioning a rupture of dike flooding the one. Located at the bottom of the valley between the Vendôme mounds and the Angenne rocks, the site enjoys a marked hydrology, with a geological substrate of Fontainebleau sands covered with recent alluvials. This location makes it today a Natura 2000 area protected for its biodiversity.
Classified as a historical monument since 2014 for the chapel, and then in 2024 for the entire site (premises, towers, remnants of the nave, wells and moats), the one of the Moulineaux illustrates the evolution of a monastic place in seigneurial domain, then industrial. Architectural remains, such as the oven's pavilion or the enclosure walls, bear witness to these successive transformations. The site, owned by the commune of Poigny-la-Forêt, is located in the regional natural park of the Haute Vallée de Chevreuse, on the edge of the Guesle.
The historical sources, including the charters compiled by Auguste Moutié in 1846, evoke the life of the priory and its connection to the chestnut-tree of Poigny. The order of Grandmont, known for its rigor, established a monial community there before the site became a seigneurial issue. Recent excavations and studies (Mérimée base) confirm the archaeological importance of the site, where medieval, modern and industrial strata overlap.
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