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Origin and history

The Claeyssens maltry, located in Wambrechies, was built in the 19th century as part of an industrial complex dedicated to the production of juniper. Located around three courtyards (one gravel entrance and two interiors, one in macadam, the other paved), it incorporates buildings with specialized functions: reinforced concrete silos filled with bricks, mill equipped with grinders and two-storey sorters, distillation workshop, and warehouses. Its architecture combines traditional materials (bricks, tiles, slates) and modern structures such as reinforced concrete or glass windows, reflecting the technical innovations of the industrial era.

The history of the site dates back to 1789, when Joseph Guillaume Claeyssens, fleeing Belgium after the French Revolution, settled in Wambrechies to found an oil factory. His son turned the oil mill into a juniper distillery in 1817, exploiting local resources: hydraulic energy provided by the Deûle River and a deep water table for pure water. Originally directed by Henri Lesen, a German friend, the distillery experienced a major boom in the 19th century, employing up to 70 people and producing two million litres of juniper annually around 1900. Despite management difficulties, the site, bought in 1998 by a Belgian industrialist, remains in operation today.

The complex, separated from the distillery by the canal de la Deûle, has been partially protected since 1999 (facades and roofs listed in the Historical Monuments). Its buildings, designed for each stage of manufacture (fermentation, cooking, storage), illustrate the rational organization of 19th-century malting and distillery. The current production, reduced to 200,000 litres per year with four employees, perpetuates historical know-how on material from a partially preserved period.

Maltry is part of a regional context marked by early industrialisation in the North, where water resources and abundant labour were conducive to processing. Its functional architecture, adapted to technical constraints (cooling, storage, distillation), bears witness to the ingenuity of local industrialists. The site, owned by the municipality of Wambrechies, retains a technical, historical and social heritage value linked to the economic history of the Hauts-de-France region.

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