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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Forges d'Ans, located in Cubjac-Auvezère-Val d'Ans (former commune of La Boissière-d'Ans) in Dordogne, were founded at the end of the seventeenth century by Jacques-François de Hautefort d'Ajat. Installed near the castle of Ans, they used the hydraulic force of the Blame, tributary of the Auvézère, to operate their bellows. Their cannon production, destined for the Royal Navy, was transported via a river network to the arsenals of Rochefort.

The forge was crowned under the direction of Jean Festugière (1761-1829), who became its owner in 1791 after managing it for the Marquise de Taillefer. Taking advantage of the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, Festugière made cannons and partially modernized the installations, including the master house (1791-1810), with vaulted basements and an underground tunnel. The workers went on strike in 1794 to demand better wages, illustrating the economic importance of the site.

The decline began after 1829, with the death of Jean Festugière and English industrial competition. Despite an attempt at reconversion in 1862, the forge definitively closed in 1870, a victim of the 1860 free trade agreements. The remains — blast furnaces, moulding plants, power plants and hydraulic valves — were listed as historic monuments in 2018. In 2022, the site received a grant of €168,000 under the Heritage Lotto.

The estate, lined with stone walls, preserves remarkable elements such as the master house at two levels of basements, the old blast furnaces ( previously fed by the wood of the Barade forest), and a hydraulic valve regulating the flow of water. A coal hall, visible on the plans of the nineteenth century, has now disappeared. The Ans forge embodies the metallurgical heritage of the Périgord, marked by its adaptation to military needs and its decline in the face of industrialization.

Created on the cannon road, a network of forges supplying the arsenals of La Rochelle, the forge d'Ans passed into the hands of influential families like the Bertin before being taken over by the Festugière. The latter, now figures in industry and finance, illustrate the link between steel heritage and social ascent. The site, now closed to the visit, remains a testimony of pre-industrial techniques and economic stakes from the Revolution to the July monarchy.

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