Châlons-en-Champagne, Ardennes 51000

A large watermill nestled in the valley of the River Moivre in France's Champagne region. In 1260, the village seigneur gave the Abbaye de Lachalade, which is located around 50 kilometres from the village, a plot of land beside a chapel so they could build a watermill there. We do not know the exact date when the first watermill was built here, but it was probably shortly after this plot was given. Throughout the Ancien Rgime in France, the successive watermills here were all managed in the same way: the abbots from the Abbaye de Lachalade, the owners, would rent out the plot with the associated rights and would provide the millstones. An official lessor, usually a noble from Chlons-en-Champagne, would provide funding for construction and maintenance of the watermill. He himself would rent it out to a miller or employ this miller. In 1499, the King's Treasurer for the province of Champagne bought the neighbouring farm and leased the mill. His descendants did the same up to 1764, when the current owner's ancestor took over the place. The mill was restored in around 1850. Milling here ended in 1905. From a small secondary road, a long tarmacked drive leads up to the mill. This mill stands opposite the old farm, which is no longer part of the property. Only a path of white stones, which belongs to the neighbour, forms a boundary with the mill's court. Behind the latter, the property includes a small garden enclosed with wrought-iron fencing and with the river that flows in a curve beneath the mill. In this garden there is an elegant 19th-century aviary with a zinc roof. On the other side of the river, the property extends with a ridge that looks down over the mill.