The next day was fine and warm, we decided to head in the other direction and go a little further down the Bourgogne Canal from Montbard. About 6 kilometres is the little village of Buffon. There is a nice little hotel here with a good restaurant – so we are told. Marg and I cycled past on the other side of the canal as we were off to see another famous site in the area. With the demise of the Fontenay Abbey, the area lost its local supply of iron.
George Leclerc – the Count of Buffon is a famous son of Montbard. He was a well educated naturalist and was requested by the King to develop a better system for making iron. He designed the forerunner of a modern blast furnace and his Grand Forge de Buffon produced pig iron that was rolled and forged into useable iron strips and bars. The mill produced iron from 1769 to 1866 when the plant became a cement factory. The present owners have done wonders with the restoration which is still on-going.
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The foundry building was beautifully made – for a factory. A pair of sweeping stone stairs leads from the entrance to the blast furnace floor. Two massive sets of bellows driven by a large waterwheel forced air into a 7 metre high furnace. Pig iron was drawn from the bottom as it is in furnaces today.
Modern Montbard has a factory that produces stainless steel products, one being very fine stainless steel mesh of the type that is used in the production of quality paper thus linking the past industries of the area with the present.
Enough of the history. We will be moving on this weekend. Tonnerre will be our next major stop.
So, keep in touch.
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