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All French heritage classified by regions, departments and cities

  2. Patrimoine
  3. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
  4. Côte-d'or
  5. 21500 Buffon

  6. Buffon Forges

 Buffon Forges en Côte-d'or

Patrimoine classé
Patrimoine industriel
Forge

Buffon Forges

    Domaine des anciennes forges
    21500 Buffon
Private property; property of the municipality
Museums of France
The classified industrial heritage of France Forge
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Crédit photo : Travail personnel - Sous licence Creative Commons

Timeline

Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1800
1900
2000
1768
Foundation of the forge
1768-1772
Construction of buildings
1777
Change in management
1785
Financial crisis
1791
Sale by heirs
1866
End of the steel industry
1923
End of industrial activity
20 décembre 1943
First MH ranking
10 février 2025
Complete site ranking
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

Building of the forge itself: classification by decree of 20 December 1943; The Grande Forge de Buffon, in its entirety, comprising: housing and operating buildings, including those of the cement plant; gardens; the bypass channel (upstream and downstream ice) and its retaining walls; the remains of the bridge of the upstream bief; the washing area or "patouillet"; the remains of the Decauville Railway; the access road to the Grande Forge; the dam on the Armançon and all its accessories and their foundations; the ground of parcels No 133, No 155, No 165, No 166, No 167, No 168, No 620, No 621, No 622, No 624, No 625, No 627, No 683, No 684, No 685, No 687, No 688a, No 691, No 692 and No 699, and the ground of the uncadastral parcel of the entrance aisle, shown in Section C of the cadastre of the commune, as delimited in red on the plane annexed to the decree. The whole located Grande Forge : classification by order of 10 February 2025

Key figures

Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon - Founder and naturalist Created the forge as a scientific laboratory.
Anne-Christine Marlin - Buffon's mother He passed on the Burgundy lands.
Chesneau de Lauberdières - Fraudulent manager Plucked the forests and fled in 1785.
Élisabeth Daubenton - Buffon's stepdaughter Selled the forge in 1842.
Antoine-Gabriel Jars - Inspector of Royal Forges Buffon's friend reported his experiences.
Louis-Charles Caronge des Bornes - Forges master Adversary in a trial in 1784.

Origin and history

The Grande Forge de Buffon was founded in 1768 by Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, a renowned naturalist and scientist, on land inherited from his mother in Burgundy. Passionate about metallurgy, Buffon applied his scientific theories to optimize iron production, despite the poor quality of local ore. The site, conceived as a "integrated factory", included workshops, worker housing, master's house, chapel and gardens, powered by the hydraulic force of the Armançon. His experiments, such as measuring the cooling of iron spheres to estimate the Earth's age, caused controversy with the Church.

Between 1768 and 1772, Buffon developed the forge with the help of forging masters, producing up to 450 tons of iron annually thanks to a blast furnace and blades. The site provided grids for the Jardin des Plantes de Paris and served as a laboratory for innovations such as cannon improvement. However, management was entrusted in 1777 to Chesneau de Lauberdières, who looted resources before fleeing in 1785, plunging the forge into financial difficulties. Buffon, taken over by his scientific work, could not remedy the situation until his death in 1788.

Sold in 1791 by his heirs, the forge continued its steel industry until 1866, when a devastating flood of the Armançon ended. The site was then converted into a cement factory until 1923, before being preserved as a historical monument. Partly classified in 1943 and in 2025, the Grande Forge illustrates Buffon's industrial and scientific heritage, combining technical progress, community life and architectural heritage.

Now privately owned, the site has been open to the public since 1978, thanks to associations and then to the current owners, descendants of a line linked to Buffon. Its buildings, including the blast furnace and its monumental grids forged on site, demonstrate a pioneering approach to the organization of work and metallurgical innovation in the Enlightenment century. The dam, the diversion canal and the remains of the Decauville railway complete this exceptional heritage.

The forge was also a place of experimentation for the manufacture of coke, via the "Company for the Exploitation of Coal of Earth", founded with figures like Jacques Necker. Although financially disappointing for Buffon, this adventure reflects his commitment to applied sciences. The site, protected for its facades, gardens and hydraulic equipment, remains a symbol of the alliance between industry, science and heritage in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.

Future

The association for the protection of Buffon's great forge allowed its opening to the public from 1978 to 1997.

External links

Page Wikipedia
Official website
Page Monumentum