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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Choise mill, located in Cély-en-Bière (Seine-et-Marne), is a building mostly built in the 16th century, although archives mention its existence as early as 1369 under the name Moulin de Choise in a parchment of the National Archives. He then depended on the seigneury of Fleury until the French Revolution. Working continuously until the First World War, he ceased his activity after the death of his last miller, before falling into ruin due to a conflict between owner and tenant.

Ranked a historic monument in 1985 at the initiative of the Fédération nationale des moulins and Henri Raulin (conservative of the Musée des Arts et Traditions populaires), it was considered one of the most representative mills in Île-de-France. In danger, it was completely restored in 1986 by architect Pierre Thiébaut, who installed an ecomuseum managed by an association law 1901. Its typical architecture of the country of Beer combines stone walls of Fontainebleau and roofs in local tiles.

Organised around a courtyard, the site includes a water channel with a chestnut blade wheel, a family washhouse, and buildings dedicated to housing, storage, and a carterie. An inscription painted on the outer wall, "here the ultimate at will", bears witness to its past use. The mill, its mechanism, facades, and canal have been protected since 1985. It is located in the Gâtinais Regional Natural Park and the classified site of the Ru de Rebais.

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