The former forges of Mellier

Description

 
Mellier-Haut is one of the best preserved proto-industrial steelmaking sites in Wallonia, as well as one of the most representative in the Ardennes dating from the 18th century. The site was chosen because it is located at the crossroads of three essential elements: water, charcoal and minerals. The hydraulic wheels fitted to the Mellier, tributary of the Rulles in the Semois basin, enabled tilt hammers, bellows and ore crushers to operate with ease. The huge massif surrounding the site produced the charcoal required to use the blast furnace and refinery. The minerals themselves were mined in Lorraine (Vance).
The forge location at Mellier is not recent and probably dates from the 17th century. At that time, Pierre Coens, with the support of Anne de Croÿ, duchess of Aerschoot and princess countess of Arenberg, built a blast furnace on the Rulles and two refineries and a foundry at Mellier-Haut and Mellier-Bas. The site then remained in operation until the end of the Dutch period when steelmaking using wood was dying out in the face of the coke-fired blast furnaces in Liège and Charleroi. It was then bought by duke Prosper-Louis d’Arenberg in 1837, more for its forests than for its steelmaking and in 1876, the blast furnace was replaced by a sawmill.
Listed: 13-10-1980
Exceptional heritage site of Wallonia
 

Source

Copyright: All rights reserved

More information

BE | | Public | DutchFrenchGerman

Statistics

Looking for routes that pass here?

Nearby routes
Advertisement

Things to do in surrounding Show all

Select one of the most popular activities below or refine your search.

- RouteYou Selections -

Discover the most beautiful and popular trails in the area, carefully bundled into appropriate selections.

Sights nearby Show all

Select one of the most popular categories below or be inspired by our selections.

- RouteYou Selections -

Discover the most beautiful and popular attractions in the area, carefully bundled in appropriate selections.

Destinations close by

Plan your route

With RouteYou, it's easy to create your own customised maps. Simply plot your route, add waypoints or nodes, add places of interest and places to eat and drink, and then easily share it with your family and friends.

Route planner

Route planner

This place of interest on your website

<iframe src="https://plugin.routeyou.com/poiviewer/free/?language=en&amp;params.poi.id=993593" width="100%" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Try this feature for free with a RouteYou Plus trial subscription.

If you already have such an account, then log in now.


More than 8,500,000 routes


More than 15,000,000 users


More than 4,200,000 points of interest

Address

Kerkstraat 108

9050 Gentbrugge, Belgium

Follow us

Download the free app

Contact

Marketing & sales

[email protected]

General queries

[email protected]

© 2006-2024 RouteYou - www.routeyou.com