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Origin and history

The Nortbécourt windmill, also known as the Lebriez Mill, is a windmill built in limestone and brick in the 1st quarter of the 18th century. An engraved date inside, 1714, attests to its construction. This type of building, typical of the rural landscapes of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, was used to grind grain for local populations, in an area then marked by a dominant agricultural economy and influential seigneuries, such as La Bricque nearby.

In 1897, the mill was acquired by Alphonse Lebriez, a miller who operated it until the 1950s, when activity ceased permanently. The abandonment then threatened its structure, but in 1964 Michel Hoyez bought it and undertook restoration work to save it from ruin. These efforts led to its inclusion in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in 1977, recognizing its heritage value.

The wings of the mill, restored in December 1981, were finally deposited in August 2014 due to the rupture of their transmission shaft. Since then, the commune of Mentque-Nortbécourt, in collaboration with the department of Pas-de-Calais and the Hauts-de-France region, has negotiated its complete rehabilitation. This mill illustrates the evolution of milling techniques and the local attachment to the preservation of a rural industrial heritage.

The territory of Mentque-Nortbécourt, where the mill stands, is marked by a feudal and agricultural history. Prior to the French Revolution, the seigneury of La Bricque, situated in the commune, was owned by noble families such as the d'Haffrenghes, several of whose members held municipal offices in Lille in the 18th century. The merger of the villages of Mentque and Nortbecourt in 1819, decided by the king, reflects the territorial recompositions of the post-Napoleonian era.

The mill is part of a landscape shaped by the Caps and Marais d'Opale Regional Natural Park, where human activities, such as agriculture and the exploitation of natural resources, have shaped landscapes for centuries. Its architecture, with a ground floor separate from the upper floors, and its conical roof, make it a characteristic example of the windmills in northern France, adapted to the frequent winds of the region.

Today, the Nortbecourt mill remains an identity symbol for the 649 inhabitants of the municipality (census 2023). Its preservation is part of a broader dynamic of valuing rural heritage, in a region where the windmills, churches and feudal mottes bear witness to a rich medieval and modern past.

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