Construction of mill XIIe–XVe siècle (≈ 1550)
Period of initial construction of wood.
1861
Modernisation by the Bottom Brothers
Modernisation by the Bottom Brothers 1861 (≈ 1861)
Addition of iron wheels and parts.
Années 1980–2006
Mill restoration
Mill restoration Années 1980–2006 (≈ 1993)
Reconstruction of the medieval wooden mechanism.
Début XXe siècle
Abandonment of mill
Abandonment of mill Début XXe siècle (≈ 2004)
Cessation of activity due to technological advances.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Key figures
Moines bénédictins - Initial owners
Mill builders for salt marshes.
Frères Bottom - Modernizers in 1861
Addition of iron wheels and mechanisms.
Origin and history
The Moulin des Loges is a tidal mill located in Saint-Just-Luzac, Charente-Maritime, in the marshes of the Seudre. Built between the 12th and 15th centuries, it is one of the last mills of this type in Europe to still operate today. Owned by the Conservatoire du Littoral, it is managed by the Tourist Office of the island of Oléron and the Marennes basin. Its mechanism, reconstituted in wood as in the 12th century, makes it possible to produce flour at each descending tide.
Operating thanks to tidal force, this mill uses a system of valves and non-return doors to fill a holding basin. At low tide, the released water operates a wheel that drives grinding wheels through gears. However, this process, which is regular thanks to the tidal cycles every 6 hours, depends on their intensity. Before 1861, the mill had only one pair of wooden grinding wheels, capable of grinding 100 kg of wheat per hour.
The history of the Moulin des Loges is closely linked to that of salt and salt marshes in the region. Benedictine monks, attracted by the "white gold" trade, set up this mill there to support local activities. Purchased in 1861 by the Bottom brothers, it was modernized with three pairs of additional grinding wheels and iron pieces. Abandoned in the early twentieth century, it was restored in the 1980s–2006 to its original mechanism.
Today, the mill is located in a protected area, rich in biodiversity: birds (buses, storks), batracians, reptiles and a typical flora of marshes (salicorn, fennel). It continues to produce flour, bearing witness to a preserved industrial and natural heritage.
