Forges à Val-Suzon en Côte-d'or

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Forges de Val-Suzon, located on a sloped terrain, form a coherent industrial complex of the 2nd quarter of the 19th century. The master house, on one floor, is backed by the raw material storage building. Below, the blast furnace, with its casting room, is framed by workers' housing, organized on two levels. The turbine room, partially buried, completes this technical set. The blast furnace, of truncated structure in refractory bricks, was fed by bellows and charged from the top, with recovery of cast iron by low casting.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Victor Noël, owner of Pellerey's forges, operated a mill in Val-Suzon to prepare iron ore for his blast furnace. The site benefits from local resources: Suzon water, forest charcoal and ore extracted from open pit mines. In 1827-1830, an application was made to transfer Pellerey's blast furnace to Val-Suzon, granted by royal order on June 19, 1836. The works, completed in 1838, saw the installation of a cast iron dome signed by Perriot & Thoureau. Production, transported via the Burgundy Canal, ceased in 1872 due to poor yield.

After its closure, the site became agricultural warehouse, then sawmill and made tool handles until 1956. In 1982, a partial collapse of the furnace roof preceded a rehabilitation study in 1988. In 2005, buildings were donated to the municipality, and a rehabilitation project was under way. The facades, roofs and remains of the blast furnace have been protected since 1982.

External links