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Origin and history

The Prix-lès-Mézières colour mill, located on the banks of Meuse in the Ardennes, is an industrial complex dating back to the 2nd half of the 19th century. Originally, the site housed a cannon forge (18th century), followed by a copper smelter (17th century) and a dependency of the arms factory in Nouzonville. In 1859, the three mills (high, middle, low) were converted into a mineral colour preparation plant by Pierre Colin, marking their industrial climax.

The Grand Moulin, built of limestone with a roof in the pavilion, used a hydraulic wheel powered by a vaulted bief. The middle mill, with three pairs of grinding wheels and a roof with broken long panels, was used for the packaging of the pigments in barrels. The site employed 9 workers in 1883 and gradually ceased its activity: low mill in 1918, high mill in 1925, and middle mill in 1955. The buildings, made of stone and coated, still retain horizontal grinding wheels and mechanical elements.

The history of the site dates back to the 11th century, when the priory of Saint-Hubert Abbey established a flour mill, first mentioned in 1517. In the 17th century, a copper battery was installed there and the site was rented to the Manufacture d'Armes de Charleville from 1702. After the Revolution, the mills became national goods and were transformed into a platinum factory around 1794 to supply the factory. Repurchased in 1861 by Honoré-Victor Colin, who completed their conversion into a colour mill.

Ranked a historic monument in 1995, the site now protects the facades, roofs, and hydraulic elements (vetted fowl, millstone supports), as well as a dovecote and a farm. The calcinators and dryers, formerly adjacent to the Middle Mill, bear witness to the industrial organization of the 19th century. The low mill, with its two floors in stone, and the Grand Moulin, equipped with a wheel of 6 meters in diameter, illustrate the hydraulic engineering of the period.

Historical sources, such as the works of Michel Coistia (Les Moulins à couleurs des Ardennes, 1991) and Gérald Dardart (Prix-lès-Mézières. The work of the monks of Saint-Hubert, 2001), document this evolution. The site, now decommissioned, remains a remarkable example of the adaptation of the Ardennes mills to modern industrial needs, from metallurgy to chemical production.

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