Description
The guided tour explains the history of this small mill dating back to the 12th century, and the water supply to the town of Orbec, which was inaugurated in 1883. The tour includes a demonstration of the water-raising machine and its water jets.
Designed by the engineer Ernest Bollée, the "water lifting machine" is the only one of the eight built in France that can be seen in this state of preservation. The Orbiquet river drives a 12 hp Sagebien-type paddle wheel, which, with the help of two bodies of three pumps, drew water from a reservoir supplied by springs. 30 public fountains patented by Bollée provided the inhabitants of Orbec with unlimited access to water of good quality for the time. The restoration of the Bollée wheel and mechanism will help to showcase this 19th-century industrial heritage.
The machine and the kilometres of cast-iron pipes were delivered to Orbec station, which had been inaugurated a few years earlier. The Lisieux Orbec line enabled local industry to continue along the Orbiquet valley. Historical elements will enable younger visitors to discover and older ones to remember this picturesque line, which was closed for good in the 1960s.
Guided tours available every day by appointment