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Heritage classified

Origin and history

The Fresne windmill is a building located in the municipality of Savennières, in the department of Maine-et-Loire, in the Pays de la Loire region. This mill, also called mill of the Petite Roche, is representative of the constructions dedicated to the processing of cereals thanks to wind energy, a technology widely used in the French countryside before the industrial era. Its architecture and mechanism reflect local expertise in milling and natural resource management.

The protection of this heritage was formalized by an inscription in the title of historical monuments on 21 November 1975. This recognition highlights its importance in the economic and social history of the region, where windmills played a central role in the daily life of rural communities. Although the available sources do not specify its exact date of construction, its maintenance until today makes it a rare vestige of traditional agricultural activities in Anjou.

Located precisely at Address 3 Route de la Possonnière, the Fresne mill is identified in the Merimée base under cadastral code C 1268. Its state of conservation and accessibility are not detailed in the documents consulted, but its inclusion among the protected monuments underscores the desire to preserve this testimony from the milling past of the region.

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