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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Taillanderie de Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne is a former industrial workshop founded in 1828 by the Lagrange family, located in the Doubs department, on the banks of the Arcange Creek. This site was dedicated to the manufacture of sharp tools, including fake tools, for agricultural purposes. Its name is specific to these workshops producing cutting tools for local peasantry.

From 1865, the Philibert family took over and developed the factory, specializing in the production of fakes. Between 1890 and 1914, the workshop employed up to 25 workers and produced 35,000 tools annually, of which 20,000 were false, representing 5% of the national market. Agricultural mechanization after World War I led to a gradual decline, culminating in its closure in 1969, with only three remaining workers.

The site is remarkable for its unique hydraulic system, powered by the Arcange Creek. Two outside auget wheels operate a 10-ton oak blower, dating from 1886, while two inside wheels of 5 meters in diameter animate four martinets hitting the metal at 150 strokes per minute. These fully preserved facilities illustrate the technical ingenuity of small 19th century rural industrial enterprises.

Classified as a historical monument in 1984, the Taillanderie is now a museum open to the public, allowing to discover the functioning of the martinets and the living conditions of the workers-forgerons. With 25,000 annual visitors since 1995, it is part of the Engrenages network, enhancing the industrial heritage of Franche-Comté and Switzerland. Its architecture and machines, which have remained intact since 1969, offer an exceptional testimony of the first regional industrialization.

Life at the Taillanderie was organized as a farm-workshop, with a community lifestyle: workers and apprentices stayed on site, isolated from the village. This model reflected the social organisation of small rural enterprises, where work and daily life were closely linked. Production declined with the arrival of mechanical mowers, marking the end of a craft era in favour of modern industrialisation.

In 2019, after the death of its owner, the tile factory was put on sale, highlighting the challenges of preserving industrial heritage sites. Its ranking and restoration have made it a symbol of the dynamism of the SMEs that marked the industrialisation of the Franche-Comté in the 19th and 20th centuries.

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