First certificates XVIIe siècle (≈ 1750)
Production of anchor parts for the Navy.
1770
Production peak
Production peak 1770 (≈ 1770)
250 tons of melt annually under La Chaussade.
1825
Change of ownership
Change of ownership 1825 (≈ 1825)
Transfer to Berthier-Bizy's family.
1982
First protection
First protection 1982 (≈ 1982)
Partial registration of workshops.
1991
Classification
Classification 1991 (≈ 1991)
Protection of the bell tower.
2020
Supplementary registration
Supplementary registration 2020 (≈ 2020)
Extension to housing and equipment.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Residual workshops (Case AN 179, 180): registration by order of 5 October 1982; Bellhouse, known as the Big Chains (Box AN 180): by order of 13 September 1991; The following parts of the former royal forges of the Chaussade: the dwelling of the Cables, known as the Longère, with its appendices located on the plot AN 89, the beef located between the plots AN 179 and 180, the three access grids located on the plots AN 179 and AN 354, the ground of the plots AN 89 and AN 179, the remaining technical equipment, located on the plots No 89, 179, 180 and 354, appearing in the land register section AN: inscription by order of 24 June 2020
Key figures
Pierre Babaud de La Chaussade - Owner and industrial
Develops pig iron production in the 18th century.
Famille de Berthier-Bizy - Owners post-1825
Back to the forges in the 19th century.
Origin and history
The royal forges of the Chaussade, located in Guérigny in the Nièvre, are attested from the seventeenth century for their production of anchors for the Royal Navy. Their activity intensified during the second half of the 18th century under the impulse of Pierre Babaud de La Chaussade, owner of the premises. In 1770, blast furnaces reached an annual production of 250 tonnes of cast iron, fed by local ore from Villatte and the surrounding forest resources (Rochefort, Charrault, Donzy). This industrial development is accompanied by the construction of dedicated infrastructures: housing for the workers and the manager, barn, stable, and ore wash.
The site underwent a major evolution in 1825, when it passed into the hands of Berthier-Bizy's family. The forges, marked by their strategic and economic importance, enjoy successive protections in respect of historical monuments: a first inscription in 1982, followed by a partial classification in 1991, and a further inscription in 2020. These measures include the remaining workshops, the bell tower building (called the large chains), as well as technical and architectural elements scattered over several cadastral plots.
The legacy of the Chaussade royal forges is also based on their integration into a national economic and logistical network. The site, supplied with local raw materials (minerai, wood), illustrates the French pre-industrial organization, where the Royal Manufactures played a key role in the supply of the Navy. The current remains, including dwellings, appendices and hydraulic equipment, offer a material testimony of the metallurgical techniques of the Ancien Régime and early 19th century. Their preservation also reflects the heritage importance attached to pioneer industrial sites in Burgundy-Franche-Comté.
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