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Origin and history

La Paillasse windmill, located in Caragoudes en Haute-Garonne, is an emblematic building of Lauragais, a historical region known for its agricultural heritage and mills. Built probably in the seventeenth century, it is distinguished by its brick structure and slightly truncated architecture, typical of the tower mills of this region. Its exterior walls, restored several times, bear witness to its past importance in the production of flour.

In 1649, the mill belonged to Bernard de La Font, lord of Caragoudes and king's adviser to the Toulouse Parliament. In 1769, he passed into the hands of the Jonquières family, which kept him until 1963. This flour mill, protected since 1950 as one of the first monuments of this type recognized for its ethnological interest, houses mechanisms partially dated from the late eighteenth century. These include two pairs of wheels, a control system, and a 1796 engine shaft.

The mill permanently ceases its activity shortly after its protection. Its roof was rebuilt in the 1960s, and the tower was consolidated in 1993. Although its internal mechanisms are partly preserved, the mill is no longer in operation today. There remains an architectural and technical testimony of the traditional milling practices of Lauragais, a region formerly known as the "Languedoc wheat attic".

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