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Origin and history

The Pinsonnerie windmill is an iconic building located in Faye-d'Anjou, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire. Built in the second half of the 18th century, this cavier-type flour mill, with its masonry cone, illustrates the traditional architecture of the Angelian mills. It was initially dedicated to flour production, an essential activity for the rural communities of the time, and operated until 1926. Its mechanism, still in good condition, includes two pairs of grinding wheels and a wheat cleaner, demonstrating its central economic role in the region.

During the Vendée wars, the mill played a strategic role in serving as a signal post to alert the people of Faye-d'Anjou of the arrival of royalist troops, the cabbages. The position of its wings allowed the transmission of coded messages, transforming this place of production into a tool of resistance. This dual function, both utilitarian and defensive, reflects the political and military tensions that marked Anjou at this time.

Listed as a historical monument in 1978, the mill was restored in 1987 by Dominique and Anita Leblanc, a couple of wine growers from Coteaux du Layon. The owners equipped the Berton wing mill, a modern system for the period of its restoration, and opened it to the public on an ad hoc basis during local holidays. A local legend tells us that a treasure would have been hidden in one of the mills on the Layon Hills by monks to remove it from the cabbages, adding a mystical dimension to this historical heritage.

Architecturally, the mill is distinguished by its circular mass consisting of two parallel cellars, one of which leads to the base of the millstones. The hicherolle, shot with a guivre ladder, and the steel rods carrying 11-board Berton flights, illustrate the technical complexity of these buildings. Today, the Pinsonnerie mill remains a symbol of the industrial and rural heritage of Anjou, while recalling the historical upheavals of the region.

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