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Origin and history

The Etchaux forge, located in the Aldudes Valley 1.5 km south of Saint-Étienne-de-Baïgorry (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), was active from the mid-17th century until 1785. Originally authorized in 1640 by Louis XIII to operate iron mines, his first existence remained uncertain. At the end of the 17th century, the Marquis de Barbézieux, secretary for the War of Louis XIV, built a blast furnace and foundry to produce bombs and pellets used in the military campaigns in Spain.

In the 18th century, the forge became a famous cannon foundry, supplying the Royal Navy and private shipowners such as Bayonne. In 1741, a contract contracted the Viscount of Etchauz to deliver 1,200 cannons in four years. The activity was intense during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), under the supervision of artillery inspectors such as André Fougeroux de Secval (1767-1768) or the Marquis d'Antin de Saint-Pée (1768-1769). The forge employed skilled workers (founders, moulders) and premises (coalmakers, miners) to exploit the spathic iron ore of the Ousteleguy mine.

The decline of the forge was caused by the depletion of forest resources, which are essential for the production of charcoal. Despite a division of the Aldudes Valley woods in 1755 with a competing foundry, the shortage persisted. The blast furnace was extinguished around 1768, and only a small direct reduction forge was operational until 1785, the year of the death of the Viscount of Etchauz. Today, the 18th century cubic blast furnace, with a square tank, is the only preserved vestige of this major industrial site.

The guns produced in Etchaux were light and solid, appreciated for their resistance, especially in a naval environment where explosions were feared. Transported to Bayonne by difficult roads, they were divided into four calibres (6, 8, 10, 12). After the blast furnace was stopped, the ore was treated in a direct reduction furnace inspired by Navarra methods, with seven workers. The forge thus illustrates the strategic importance of Basque metallurgy under the Old Regime, before its decline due to environmental constraints.

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