The Saint Michel Mill and its restoration

“Saint Miché’s” day

The Saint-Michel mill, built in 1830 and modernised in 1875, is located on the Saint-Michel knoll, on the site of a former chapel dedicated to Saint Michel, which was destroyed in 1805. The “tertre Saint-Michel” was an important place in rural life: before the French Revolution, on the Sunday closest to 29 September, the “pardon de la Saint-Michel”, farmers had to renew their leases. It was the arrival of autumn, the end of heavy agricultural work, the quality of the harvest was known and the prices established. On this date, farmers and sharecroppers had to pay their rent and sharecropping. Michaelmas was also the time of the big fairs, which is still the case today in many towns. Farmers and sharecroppers from here would go up to the chapel and, after the singing and the procession up the hill, would visit their landlords to pay their “Saint Miché”.

History of the mill

This beautiful tower mill built in 1830 complemented the “Moulin de Rolland” water mill, which was located not far from here in the Gâcon valley. It produced flour mainly from wheat, buckwheat and oats until 1900, when it ceased trading. It was then bought by a family of holidaymakers, who had two windows cut out, dismantled the mechanism and used it for a time as a “romantic refuge”. Abandoned, it was acquired by the commune in 1971.

A lengthy restoration began, one of the first to be carried out on mills. The specialist craftsman or “amoulangeur”, Jean Peillet, one of the first mill restorers in France, reused parts of the equipment from other mills and unblocked the wings in 1971.

The storms of 1987 and 1999 seriously damaged the mill. A second complete restoration took place between 2003 and 2009 to renew the framework and the mobile frame, the crown and to fit new wings.

Chapelle Sainte-Anne Saint-Quay-Portrieux

The “Amicale des Moulin, Fontaine et Lavoirs” association, set up in 2000, looks after the mill and organises guided tours of the windmill and milling facilities.

The Saint-Michel mill is one of the few remaining mills in the Côtes d’Armor. The nearest are the Moulin de Merlet in Plourhan and the Moulin de Craca in Plouezec.