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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Chartres-de-Bretagne lime ovens, located in Ille-et-Vilaine, constitute a major industrial complex of the 19th century. Built in two phases, the first three furnaces were built between 1865 and 1867 by C. Coudé, while the other four, dedicated to agricultural lime, were added between 1876 and 1878 by E. Doret. These massive structures, surrounded by outbuildings and a brick chimney restored in 1997, were linked to a limestone quarry now flooded by a system of wagonnets towed by electric winch.

In 1891, the Société Anonyme Industrielle et Commerciale des Ovens à chaux de Lormandière et de la Chaussairie Réunions was one of the main producers of lime in Brittany, employing up to 150 people. The activity ceased gradually, with the shutdown of the Lormandière furnaces in 1927 and those of Chaussairie in 1938. Since 1987, the ovens have been listed as historical monuments, and the site of the Lormandière, acquired by the department in 1988, is protected for its calcium flora.

The seven ovens, now vented, illustrate the industrial architecture of the time. Their location, between Rue du Callouët and Rue des Fours-à-Chaux, as well as their proximity to the Lormandière factory (invented but not classified), underline their central role in the local economy. The site, a departmental property, remains a tangible testimony of Breton industrial history and its environmental heritage.

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