Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The straddling of the Sainte-Marie well is a reinforced concrete structure erected in 1924 by engineer Charles Tournay on the site of a coal well dug in 1864 in Ronchamp. Originally designed to revive extraction, it served little because of the preference given to the Chanois well, better equipped for coal processing. After the nationalization of the coalfields in 1946, the Ronchamp basin was entrusted to EDF, and the horse riding, disused in 1958, escaped demolition thanks to local mobilization.

From the 1960s, Marcel Maulini, a former mining doctor and member of the municipal council, defended his preservation as a relic of the mining era. Tokenly acquired by the department in 1972, the horse riding was restored in 1979 and registered with the Historic Monuments in 2001, becoming the only intact architectural witness to the Ronchamp mining basin. Its style, combining concrete and red brick, reflects a rare aesthetic research for an industrial structure, aimed at mitigating its utility aspect.

Architecturally, the chivalry is distinguished by its square front structure with four pillars and a four-paned roof, overcoming a brick recipe building. Designed by Tournay, a specialist in reinforced concrete mining, it illustrates the technical innovations of the time, such as the use of concrete in the face of iron shortages. It was 18.50 metres high and housed 3.30 metres in diameter, disassembled in 1950 for reuse elsewhere.

The site, now a departmental property, embodies the memory of Franche-Comté coalfields, the last vestige of an industry that shaped the region. Its conservation results from a citizen and heritage commitment, transforming a symbol of the industrial era into a historical monument, labeled 20th century Heritage.

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