Ferrier of Tannerre-en-Puisaye
Merovingian | |
Satellite of | Auxerre |
---|---|
Site notes | |
Ownership | Part council / Part private |
Official name | Ferrier antique - Archaeological site |
Designated | 1982[1] |
Reference no. | Base Mérimée: PA00113898, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French) |
The ancient ferrier of Tannerre-en-Puisaye, located in the village of
Etymology
The root of the word "ferrier" is "fer", which means iron. This word is quite unique to French : no other language has a word that specifically means "pile of iron slag" or "iron tailings heap": these terms, "slag" and "tailings", can apply to the extraction waste by-product of any metal and not just of iron.
Location
The ferrier of Tannerre is in the northern part of Burgundy, in the Yonne department, in the commune of Tannerre-en-Puisaye, in and around the bois de la Garenne (Wood of La Garenne) that stands just north of the village.
Two thirds of its total surface of 30 ha (74 acres) are in a wood of approximately 75 ha (190 acres) surface.[2] 15.2 ha (38 acres) of the southern part of the wood is owned by the town council, the rest of it being privately owned. The ferrier also spreads over inhabited areas and agricultural land.[3]
The wood was likely much larger originally, as extracting iron from its ore required great quantities of charcoal.
This is not the only ferrier in Tannerre-en-Puisaye, a village that holds a large part of the 2,250 ferriers listed in Puisaye in 2008. Other large ferriers in Puisaye are in Aillant-sur-Tholon, Saint-Amand-en-Puisaye, Saint-Fargeau, Fontaines, Dracy, Mézilles.[7]
Description
Those remains of ancient and recent exploitation have remodelled the land to heaps and holes: many holes from mineral extraction and from the removal of slag, many mounds of all sizes from miscellaneous small heaps to 15 m (49 ft) high mounds. The whole ferrier is spread over 30 ha (74 acres) surface. It is the largest ferrier in the
Of this surface, 15.2 ha (38 acres) are owned by the council and are classed as monument historique since October 15, 1982.[1]
Three Gallo-Roman wells have been found, each 1.20 m (3.9 ft) wide and providing 2 m3 (71 cu ft) per hour. One of them is 6 to 8 m (20 to 26 ft) deep, the two others 7 to 9 m (23 to 30 ft) deep (the latter have been filled for security purposes). Of the two deeper wells, one is near the Motte Champlay fort and the other towards the end of the old rail track.[10]
History
Ores most commonly used in Tannerre were red hematite (Fe2O3)[note 1] (local hematite bearing a 70% iron content) and limonite (),[note 2] a hydroxide hematite (here with 60% iron content). Marcasite, an iron sulfide (FeSFe2), was little used.[5]
Antiquity and Middle Ages
Tannerre's ferrier, and iron extraction in the area, was active from the Iron Age up to the Middle Ages, with most production taking place during the Roman occupation.[8][4]
In the early times the ore was picked straight from ground surface, with no digging involved. Surface ore eventually became all used up, so mining holes were dug down to 2 m (6.6 ft) deep;[5] many examples of that operation remain within and around the ferrier, generally partly refilled and often retaining water. Later, deeper wells were dug as well as galleries with pit props.[7]
Iron was produced in
Already largely present in Celtic times, (the Iron Age in western Europe started around 800 to 700 BC), the site's production tremendously increased with the Romans intent on grabbing resources in conquered territories. They ordered the construction of very large workshops, while private production did not significantly slow down. The means and techniques that they put to use produced what is called in French « scories à laitier » literally « milk slag »[note 3] of the same quality than those of modern blast furnaces. Production during the 300 years of Roman occupation is estimated at 80% of total production of the site, all periods included. This means that in 300 after JC, the ferrier already occupied more or less the same surface as now. A Gallo-Roman village was most probably built on the hill side.[7]
Early Middle Ages
After the Romans left, mining and smelting activity notably decreased in the area. During
Late Middle Ages
Towards the 10th century an area in the western part of the ferrier was levelled and a fort built there to guard the road to Paris. That fort is the Motte Champlay.[9] It was taken over in 1359 by the English captain Robert Knolles, in the service of Charles II of Navarre during the latter's attempt to take over the French crown. The Motte Champlay fort was a good base for plundering travellers;[13] Knolles left there his lieutenant Dauquin of Halton to hold Motte Champlay.[14] An accord was made between Knolles and the Constable of France Robert de Fienne following the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360: upon leaving the Puisaye area, Motte Champlay was razed to the ground by the Anglo-navarre troops - as well as the village (that likely was not part of the agreement) and the fort in the lower part of the village. Tannerre nearly died for more than two centuries and never again found its intense activity of old.[9] The Motte Champlay was not rebuilt. Some large mortared blocks of its walls and foundations were found in 2009 during a land survey.[10]
Modern era
At all periods, slag was occasionally used for road repairs and strengthening the road surface; that was called "ferrer" or "iron-loading" roads and other areas driven over.[15] But the quantity of material taken overall from the antique ferriers for that purpose remained low.
From 1900 to 1982 the ferriers' mounds were used on industrial scale, systematising the use (a trend already started in the 19th century) of slag to "iron-load" the roads and for rail track ballast.[12]
Besides that, as the slag was still rich in metals, it was sent to Lorraine's blast furnaces (among which those of Homécourt) to extract the remaining iron and manganese.[16] Indeed, Puisaye slag was more iron-rich than Lorraine ore, the latter's iron content then nearing only 30%. So Tannere's slag was used as bulk material to the usual charge: the load was said to be "enriched".
Moreover, the slag in Tannerre contains
This new exploitation stopped when the ferrier was classified as
Promotion of the site
After the land was abandoned for 20 years, the "association du ferrier de Tannerre", created in 2008, did a lot of work to make the site known to the public. Previously to the opening a tremendous amount of cleaning was necessary, as the site had been used for wild-dumping. There also needed to clear up heavily over-grown vegetation and to find the old paths again.[17] Opening day was on September 19 (Heritage Day) 2009.[9] A thorough research allowed to identify the Motte Champlay fort, le railway tracks, sites of activity at the beginning of the 20th century and other interesting points.[10]
Orienteering grounds
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Tannerre-en-Puisaye-FR-89-auberge-03.jpg/220px-Tannerre-en-Puisaye-FR-89-auberge-03.jpg)
La communauté de communes a misé on the creation of orienteering courses, this being facilitated by that the wood is not a hunting ground: it can therefore be open to the public all year round. The comité de l’Yonne de course d’orientation (comity in the Yonne departement for the French Orienteering Federation) gave its expert advice on tracing the tracks and installing 25 control points and an information panel. The tracks can extend on nearby private land for one-off events, after obtaining permission from the owners.
The first two events in June 2011 and March 2012 were the final tests for the new courses before the National association for school sports (in French Union nationale du sport scolaire or UNSS) Academy championship on April 17, 2012, with 177 runners who expressed unanimous appreciation for the new courses and have helped strengthen the reputation of the grounds' installations. Access to the grounds is open and free all year-round. Orienteering maps, control description sheets, control cards and such are available at the restaurant « Le Coup d'Frein » in Tannerre, official repository.[18]
Welcoming visitors
Adding to this successful project and beyond maintaining the site, paths a.s.o., the ferrier association has created and installed equipments and information media : portals at site entrances with visitor information panels, panels on history or plants at significant points along the discovery paths... At the centre of the ferrier, the site of one of the towers that made up the Motte Champlay fort was set up as a rest area with benches and tables.[10]
Historical highlights
- Reminders of Antiquity and Middle Ages
The ferrier association has also re-created some workstations showing the successive stages of ore extraction and processing during Antiquity and during the last two centuries. Various tools have been made identical to those in that remote period, including
- A glimpse on 19th-20th century period
To represent modern times, the team has re-installed and relaunched part of the railway tracks that were in use from 1912 to 1931.
These efforts have brought to life a site that is representative of the ferrier exploitation during the 19th century, with discovery paths that link all the main history points.[10]
Tours
Guided tours and demonstrations of
The association wrote a booklet on the history of the site,[24] available since end of 2013.
- Some views from the discovery paths
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Trenches...
-
... among slag mounds
-
A truncated slag mound shows its layers
-
Mining hole filled with water
-
Minecart and draisine display, surrounded by truncated slag mounds showing their layers
-
Dry toilet near the center of the ferrier
-
4 m2 (43 sq ft)wood antnest along a path
-
Another wood ant nest
Notes and references
- Notes
- ^ Hematite or haematite is the mineral form of iron(III) oxide (Fe2O3), one of several iron oxides. Hematite also contains traces of titanium (Ti), aluminium (Al), manganese (Mn) and water (H2O).
- ^ The formula given here for limonite is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxide can vary quite widely.
- ^ « Scories à laitier » or « milk slak » is slag that contains little or no more iron. At that stage it takes on a sort of milky shine, hence the French name.
- References
- ^ a b (in French) Base Mérimée: PA00113898, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French) - Ferrier antique.
- Institut géographique national.
- ^ (in French) Histoire du ferrier – Situation, in leferrierdetannerre.net. Maps of the ferriers listed in Puisaye, of those in the commune of Tannerre, of the great ferrier in Tannerre, and other information.
- ^ a b (in French) Letter by M. Tartois, forge master. Annuaire historique 1846. On the age of ferriers according to their size.
- ^ a b c (in French) Ferrier - Le minerai (the ore), on leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) M. Déy, Histoire de la Ville et du Comté de Saint-Fargeau, Auxerre, 1856, p. 310 : a slag-grinding mill.
- ^ a b c d e f g (in French) Sidérurgie antique, in leferrierdetannerre.net. Photos and information on iron extractionduring Antiquity.
- ^ a b c (in French) A. Daubrée. Aperçu historique sur l'exploitation des métaux dans la Gaule, p. 306.
- ^ a b c d (in French) Inauguration du ferrier de Tannerre, on leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ a b c d e f g (in French) Activités de l'association du ferrier de Tannerre.
- ^ Pliny the Elder, XXXIV, 162.
- ^ a b c d (in French) Exploitation in the 20th century, in leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Ambroise Challe, Malicorne-en-Gâtinais, Hautefeuille-sous-Malicorne, dans Monographies des villes et villages de l'Yonne et de leurs monuments, 1837.
- ^ (in French) Jean Lebeuf, Mémoires concernant l’histoire ecclésiastique et civile d’Auxerre..., vol. 2, Perriquet, Auxerre, 1743, 923 pages, p. 224.
- ^ (in French) Patrice Beck, Philippe Braunstein, Michel Philippe and Alain Ploquin. Minières et ferriers du Moyen-Âge en forêt d’Othe (Aube, Yonne) : approches historiques et archéologiques, in Revue Archéologique de l'Est, tome 57, 2008, p. 333-365.
- ^ (in French) Le ferrier Archived 2016-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, in leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Opening of the ferrier de Tannerre Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, in leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Parcours permanent d'orientation (PPO) dans le Bois communal du Ferrier de la Garenne Archived 2016-03-16 at the Wayback Machine, in leferrierdetannerre.net, with the help of the Yonne section of comité de l’Yonne de course d’orientation.
- ^ (in French) Fabrication du bas-fourneau, on leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Making the double bellows for the bloomeries, on leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Construction de la forge et de son soufflet, on leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Site de l'association du petit train de Champignelles
- ^ (in French) Tuyère - explication, in leferrierdetannerre.net.
- ^ (in French) Le ferrier aura bientôt son livret historique, article in L'Yonne républicaine, 4 Feb. 2013 (the : booklet, also in French).
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
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