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Origin and history

The Villeneuve-d'Ascq Mills Museum, also known as Molenmuseum, is a milling museum located in the Cousinerie district. It is managed by the Association régionale des amis des moulins (ARAM), founded in 1973 by Jean Bruggeman, a passion for Molinology. The museum's project began in 1973, and its development spanned more than two decades, with the gradual acquisition of historic mills, their restoration and their installation on the current site.

The idea of a mill museum emerged in 1973, followed in 1974 by the purchase of the mill of Olyses, an oil mill on a pivot unique in the world, built in 1743. In 1977, its location in Villeneuve-d'Ascq was fixed, and seven years of work were required to restore it. In 1979, ARAM acquired a flour mill from 1776, originally located in Bambecque, and moved to Ruminghem before being installed on the site in 1980. Renovation of the mill began in 1984 and was inaugurated in 1988, capable of grinding again.

The museum was officially inaugurated on 28 May 1995 by Gérard Caudron. It presents a varied collection: milling tools, water mills like Vers-sur-Selle (1902), and remnants of the Vertain mill. The museum highlights the technical evolution of the milling, from neolithic grinders to modern cylinders, as well as the associated occupations (carpenters, blacksmiths, grinding machines). Particular attention is paid to the iconography of mills through advertising objects, models and posters.

The mill of Olieux, built in 1743 in Audruicq, was first an oil mill before being transformed into a flour mill in the 19th century. Moved to Offekirque in 1901, it ceased to function in 1953 before being restored by the ARAM. In 1987, he produced oil again, becoming a rare testimony of this type of mill. The flour mill, built in 1776, underwent several moves and modernizations before being saved in 1979. Restored between 1984 and 1988, it illustrates the tradition of wood windmills in the Flemish region.

The museum is part of an Interreg European programme and offers a technical, historical and symbolic approach to mills. He explores the energies used (wind, water, steam, electricity) and the missing or unknown jobs related to milling. The collections also include decorative and advertising elements, reflecting the cultural importance of mills in the collective imagination. The site also preserves remains of the Vertain Mill, located in Templeuve-en-Pévèle, highlighting the density of local milling heritage.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2024 for its flour mill, the museum is now an active preservation site, managed by the ARAM, which has restored about thirty windmills and about ten watermills in France. Jean Bruggeman, founder of the association, played a key role in safeguarding this heritage, combining technical expertise and extension work through reference publications on the mills of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

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