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Origin and history

The Rochefort mill is a former textile factory located in the Orne department in Tinchebray-Bocage (formerly Tinchebray). It occupies the site of a paper mill disused in 1836, exploiting the hydraulic energy of the Durance, a tributary of Black. In 1870, Mr. Leroy, former foreman of a local textile factory, transformed the building by raising a level to install a wool mill with 300 pins. Four workers worked there around 1880, producing knitting yarns and, after 1918, wool coverings.

The factory keeps all of its production line: drummer, wolf, cardes and spinners, as well as twisters to assemble the strands. A vertical hydraulic wheel, now in a vestige state, operated the machines. In 1923, the site produced its own electricity for lighting. The activity ceased permanently in 1960, but all the machines, hydraulic installations (basin, canals, valves) and tools remain, making this place a rare testimony of the Norman wool industry.

Ranked a historic monument in 1991 with its tools, the Rochefort spinning plant is also referenced in the General Inventory of Industrial Heritage of Basse-Normandie. The treated wools came mainly from Brittany. The spinning process began with the washing and dust removal of the wool (via the wolf), followed by its lubrication, then its passage on the cardes to obtain 25 fine threads. These wires were twisted on the reindeer before being assembled in thicker strands on the reindeer.

The historical sources mention two reference works: Tinchebray 1800-1914 by Michèle Lavollé (local context) and the former Tinchebray wool spinning (1980) by Hélène Letouzey and Edeine Bernard, which detail its operation. The site, located at 127 La Basse Bunelliere, remains an emblematic example of the Ornais industrial heritage, illustrating the adaptation of a traditional mill to the 19th century textile revolution.

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