Thursday 10 July 2014

Bréhémont

Bréhémont is a little place on the left bank of the Loire. Nowadays it is a sleepy place, although in the summer season it is busy with cyclists who bike along the Loire and Cher rivers.
The large port at Bréhémont
First mentioned in the 9th century, it re-appears in a charter by Olivier de Langeais dated 1214. Later it belonged to the monks of Saint-Martin de Tours who passed it on to the Seigneurs of L'Île-Bouchard and in 1692 it became part of the newly created Marquisate of Ussé.
Traditional boats tied up at the port
However, by the 19th century Bréhémont was a very busy little place indeed, as it had become the centre for hemp cultivation in Touraine. This explains the rather expansive quayside, or 'port' as the French call it on the river Loire which is still there today.
A brightly coloured 'girouet' at the top this boat's mast
Hemp was used to fashion ropes, [and later used in the paper-making industry] and there was a huge demand for it. According to an informative post we found on a website maintained by locals, hemp was being cultivated in Bréhémont from about the 13th century onwards. Certainly from the late 18th century hemp from the village was well known and sought after. So much so, that apparently there was a bit of a scandal when, in 1840, hemp from the Sarthe region was found to have false certificates of provenance indicating that it was "d'origine de Bréhémont". In 1850 about 4,500Ha was under hemp cultivation in Touraine and virtually all of the land in the village was given over to the crop. During this heyday the village had a population of 1,850 whereas now there are only about 800 living in the commune. The demand for hemp waned and by 1929 only about 200Ha was given over to hemp growing; most of it in, and around, the communes of Bréhémont and Rigny-Ussé. By 1980 cultivation had ceased, as up till then a small amount had still been grown for the paper industry.

The village of Bréhémont's UNESCO girouet has a hemp plant and an anchor as its symbol.

10 comments:

Susan said...

Hemp was widely grown in the Touraine. Preuilly had a hemp mill and Loches had a rope factory. The Corroirie has a hemp drying oven and Henry Plantagenet (I think, but might be misremembering) encouraged the monastry to produce hemp because he needed rope and canvas for his navy.

There is an argument for describing the modern landscape here in the Touraine as shaped by the need for fibre/textiles (and not, as one might think, by farming for food). The Charteuse du Liget is a good example -- the monks and lay brothers moved in to a swamp (or as they perversely called it, 'the desert') and set about modifying the land, first by growing hemp, which likes wet ground, and then, once the land was sufficiently drained, raising sheep for wool. It was wool that really made them rich.

Tim said...

With your post and Susan's comment....
makes me think more and more that the funny square pond opposite Bezuard....
connected to the Aigronne by a short inlet....
was a retting pond.

It is accessible from Bezuard, but not close enough to smell the rot!!
Indeedy, the way the wind blows around here for most of the time, the "beneficiaries" of that healthy industrial air....
would have been the Moulin de Chevernay and the Férme du Pré.

ladybird said...

Some years ago we went to Bréhémont looking for beavers :) We never found them though, but did spent a pleasant hour on a sidewalk terrace near the church, enjoying some Loire Valley wine and the warm June sun. Have you seen any beavers when you were there?

the fly in the web said...

Super pics....hemp seemed to be common along the Loire...the museum at Montjean sur Loire featured the hemp, coal and barge trade history of the area.
I also remember the 'hemp' in the garden of Fontevraud Abbey which was of...shall we say...a specialised variety...

Niall & Antoinette said...

@ Susan - Yup, you are quite right about Henry. Knew about the hemp connection to the Chartreuse du Liget. In fact while reading up on hemp in Bréhémont it was the hemp drying shed (four) at the corroirie which was cited as an excellent example of one. Sadly we don't have a photo of a four in Bréhémont but there are a number still around.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Fly - LOL! the 1st time we went to Fontevraud -years ago- they were just beginning the mediaeval kitchen/herb garden reconstruction and we too spotted the "special" variety :-)

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Tim - could well be.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Martine - no, no beavers :-) Just lots of cyclists at the cafe you mention.

Kathy said...

Lovely photos and a fascinating glimpse into a bit of rural industrial history in your area. Around us there were water-powered mills making everything from paper to cutlery and the village populations were from 3 to 5 times what they are today.

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Perpetua - our stream the Aigronne powered all types of mills too.