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Montagney

Located in the Doubs department, on the right bank of the Ognon, between Rougemont (25) and Montbozon (70), the blast furnace of Montagney was one of the fifty or so similar establishments that made the metallurgical reputation of Franche-Comté in the 18th and 19th centuries. Unlike many others, it has come down to us in a remarkable state of preservation and listed as a Historic Monument. Its architecture bears a strong resemblance to various engravings in Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie.
It began its activity at the end of the 17th century. Successively owned by the Choiseul la Baume, la Baume Montrevel, Grammont and Mérode families, it was leased to blacksmiths including the famous Gauthier family. Joseph Gauthier was nicknamed the Napoleon of the Forges, Clarisse Gauthier-Vigoureux and Clarisse Gauthier-Coignet, who were born in Montagney, were committed Fourierists and feminists.
The blast furnace used ore 'in grain' from the nearby villages, ore 'in rock' from the mines of Battenans and Rougemontot and charcoal from the surrounding forests. The river, the Ognon, provided the hydraulic power needed to operate the bellows.
The Forge mainly manufactured cannon balls. Production reached 800 tonnes of cast iron in 1834 and at its peak in 1840, the site employed up to 84 workers, before its decline and conversion into a mill around 1850.
Near the blast furnace, there are still some period buildings: the workers’ house with a reconstructed dwelling and a collection of 200 Franche-Comté cast iron furnaces and accessories, the forge master’s house, the director’s house and a shop. The path from ore to cannonballs leads to the discovery of low furnaces, a charcoal maker’s house and its charcoal house, and a mine. The whole complex is an interesting testimony to 18th and 19th century metallurgy: techniques, production, trades, social aspects, etc.
An association, the Association of Friends of the Montagney Forge (AAFoM) has been working since 1997 to keep the site alive, with the owners, the Mouillet family, and the support of the Communauté de Communes des deux Vallées Vertes (CC2VV).
An exhibition in July and August welcomes artists from the region and is now well known.

Christian Filet
Association des Amis de la Forge de Montagney
www.forgemontagney.fr
tourisme@cc2vv.fr

Les sculptures à Montagney :