The grand spinning wheel of Fondremand Mill

The grand spinning wheel of Fondremand Mill

A repurposed watermill on the Romaine, once an engine of industry now a permanent fixture, still echoes the rhythm of an old and powerful past.

The watermill at Fondremand, a symbol of the village's industrial past, has been transformed into a vacation home. The mill, dating to the 19th century, was an expansion on the village's old mill, harnessing the river's power up a steep slope. In the mill's later years, the mill owners tried their hand at sugar refining but found the Seine, further south, better suited to the task. As a result, the Huilerie de Fondremand was converted into a lodging house, complete with a spinning mill attached. The mill is now kept up by its current owners, and its giant waterwheel, though no longer in use, still turns as a monument to the mill's past. Every summer, the wheel's paddles can be seen swirling, a testament to the mill's power.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

Written by Nicolo Ciampini

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