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Origin and history

The Bénédictins windmill, also called the Buglais windmill, was built on the municipality of Lancieux (Côtes-d'Armor) in the 16th century by the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer. Built of granite and shale, this typical tower mill in Great Britain is distinguished by its circular shape, its swivel roof in chestnut shingles, and its four helical wings of 24 meters wide. Inside, two pairs of grinding wheels mounted "in English" (a date of 1874) were grinding wheat and secondary cereals, operated by a system of cast iron wheels added in the 19th century.

The mill, originally owned by the abbey, was sold as a national property in 1791 to François L In 1875 he underwent major modernization with the addition of a ball regulator (invented by James Watt) and a poor auxiliary gas engine in 1926. Operating until 1947, it was bought by the commune in 1973 and restored in 1976 and 1990, regaining its mobile wings and operational mechanism. Today it is listed in the Historical Monuments (1975), symbolizing Breton milling heritage and opening to the public in summer.

The site preserves traces of its religious and agricultural history: the monks of Saint-Jacut crossed the bay at low tide to access it, while the local farmers milled their grain until the mid-20th century. The mill, equipped with a "pipper" orientation system (movable tail) and a brake actuated via a skylight called a knife, illustrates the ingenuity of pre-industrial techniques. Its large diameter (145 cm) wheels, made of Champagne Brie and assembled on site, bear witness to the artisanal exchanges of the time.

Ranked for its collected proportions and its traditional materials (schiste, gneiss), the Buglais mill is the last surviving windmill in Lancieux. Its adjacent employer housing, built in the same materials, completes the whole. After its 1925 auction to the Jouët family — including François Chapelle, the last active miller — the mill finally ceased operations in 1947, marking the end of a centuries-old milling era in North Brittany.

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