The ''Moulin de Valmy'' is a

post mill The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole body of the mill that houses the machinery is mounted on a single central vertical post. The vertical post is supported by four quarter bars. These ar ...

() at

Valmy Valmy () is a rural Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in the Grand Est Regions of France, region in Northeastern France. In 2020, it had a population of 282. Geography The town stands ...

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

, France. A windmill that stood on the site in 1634 was burnt during the

Battle of Valmy The Battle of Valmy, also known as the Cannonade of Valmy, was the first major victory by the army of Kingdom of France (1791–92), France during the French Revolutionary Wars, Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The battl ...

in 1792. Its replacement was demolished in 1831. A mill was moved from

Attiches Attiches () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 647 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The commun ...

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

in 1947. It blew down in 1999, but was rebuilt in 2005.

History

The earliest mention of a windmill at

was in 1634. In 1762, the miller, Jean-Baptiste Portelot was also the mayor of Valmy. He died in 1776 and the mill passed to his son Jean-Antoine Blot, who gave the mill to Portelot's cousin Nicolas Thomas, who was the miller at the time of the

in 1792. The mill was burnt down on the day of the battle, 20 September 1792, on the orders of Général François Kellermann because it was an aiming point for the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

artillery. After much argument, the mill was rebuilt. Exactly when is not known, but it was standing by 10 Pluviôse VII (29 January 1800) when Thomas sold the mill to Jacques Dannequin. His sons sold the mill to Edmond Nollet-Thièrry c.1823. Due to competition from local

watermills A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of ...

, the mill was demolished by the Thièrry family in 1831. In 1939, it was decided to rebuild the mill, and a public subscription was opened for the purpose. Sufficient money had been collected by the time

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in September 1939. A post mill from

was bought and moved to Valmy. The mill was officially inaugurated in September 1947. On 10 May 1989, the mill was listed as a ''

Monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

''. A restoration of the mill was carried out in 1998 at a cost of 1.2 million

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

. On 26 December 1999, the mill was blown down by

Cyclone Lothar Cyclone Lothar is regarded as the worst European windstorm recorded during the 20th century. Crossing France, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany between 25 December and 27 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar's average winds reached up to 115 ...

. It was decided that the mill would be rebuilt. The first stone was laid on 16 September 2004 and the rebuilt mill was inaugurated on 20 September 2005. The restoration cost 380,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

. On 4 May 2022 the mill was heavily damaged when its sails broke off in a storm.france3-regions: Destruction des ailes du celebre Moulin de Valmy
/ref>

Description

The ''Moulin de Valmy'' is an open trestle post mill. It has four

Common sails Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different forms, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails. Jib sails The jib sail is found in Mediterranean countries and consists of a simple triangle of cloth wound r ...

carried on a wooden windshaft. There are two pairs of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...

s, arranged head and tail. The trestle is unusual in having three crosstrees (instead of the usual two) and thus six pairs of doubled quarterbars.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2019 Post mills in France Buildings and structures in Marne (department) Windmills completed in 2005 Tourist attractions in Marne (department) 21st-century architecture in France