First certificate XVe siècle (≈ 1550)
Moulin mentioned as seigneurial property.
1868
Reconstruction of the mill
Reconstruction of the mill 1868 (≈ 1868)
Date entered on the iron draughts.
Années 1930
Post-fire modernization
Post-fire modernization Années 1930 (≈ 1930)
Installation of new Lacroix machines.
1993
Stopping activity
Stopping activity 1993 (≈ 1993)
End of flour production.
11 octobre 2021
Official protection
Official protection 11 octobre 2021 (≈ 2021)
Registration as a historical monument.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The Clémencey mill, in its entirety, including its technical installations and the ground, situated on parcels 59 and 98 of section ZD, as delimited on the plan annexed to the decree: inscription by order of 11 October 2021
Key figures
Seigneurs du château de Clémencey - Initial owners
Owned the mill before the Revolution.
Familles de meuniers (XIXe siècle) - Successive operators
Managed flour production.
Ateliers Lacroix (Dôle) - Machine supplier
Equipped the mill in the 1930s.
Origin and history
The mill of Clémencey, located in Frangy-en-Bresse in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, is a rectangular building built of bricks and covered with tiles. Dated from 1868 thanks to the metal pulls of its northern facade, it illustrates the industrial architecture of the second half of the 19th century. Its technical installations, spread over three levels, follow an arrangement known as English or American, with turbines, cast iron wheels for animal flour, and cylinder grinders for bakery flour. The transmission and sieving systems, which are still visible, demonstrate its complex functioning.
Attested since the 15th century, the mill originally belonged to the lords of the castle of Clemencey, destroyed during the Revolution. In the 19th century, it was exploited by several miller families and rebuilt in 1868. After a fire in the 1930s, it was modernized with machines from Lacroix workshops in Dôle, combining production of animal flour and baker's bread. The activity ceased permanently in 1993, but the site, protected entirely since 2021, retains its original equipment, offering a rare example of a preserved industrial mill.
The location of the mill on the Seille, in Bresse, reflects the importance of water for hydraulic energy in this agricultural region. Its history thus intersects the technical evolutions (crossing from grinding wheels to cylinders) and the economic changes, marked by the gradual shutdown of small local mills in the 20th century. Wooden bucket elevators, formwork and grain cleaning machines complete this exceptional technical heritage.
