The Millstones at the Museum

It had never occurred to me, in all the 15 years we have lived in Preuilly, that the millstones on the lawn outside the Poterne Museum in town were not for grinding wheat into flour. But that mine of local historical information, Fabrice Doucet, pointed out a couple of months ago on Facebook that they are for grinding walnuts into oil. Of course they are! One of them is dishshaped!! Doh! And I never noticed!!

 

The walnut crushing millstones in front of the Poterne Museum in Preuilly sur Claise.

Unlike the millstones for grinding wheat, nut millstones are not used face to face. Instead, the lower stone is concave, and the upper stone runs around inside it standing on its edge, a bit like a roadroller.

But where was the mill these stones came from? 

 

Walnuts being crushed in a local artisanal nut oil producer's mill.

According to Fabrice it belonged to Francois Dugué, who was born in Preuilly in 1866. In 1892 he married Marie Louise Dubois, who ran a grocery store at 1 rue du Cygne, on the corner at the top of our street. Her husband's mill was at the bottom of rue du Cygne. They also sold mercerie (haberdashery and sewing supplies) and wine. The power source for the mill would originally have been a horse or a donkey, but probably later a motor. Francois and Marie Louise died at their home (2 rue du Cygne) in the 1930s.

 

The former Dubois Dugué grocery store (Fr. épicerie) on the left and their home across the street on the right.

The millstones were a gift to the museum by their son-in-law Maurice Percevault, from Boussay, who had married their daughter Jeanne in 1919 and continued the business of walnut oil pressing. Fabrice can remember the stones being transported to the museum in the bucket of a local mason's backhoe.

 

Some blokes pressing walnut oil at a gourmet on farm market. The nuts must already have been crushed using a mill like the one above and brought to the market as a paste.

 

Many thanks to Fabrice for the information in this FB post: https://www.facebook.com/fabrice.doucet.3154/posts/pfbid02xcUJCNN8pzPfuCKBmzeVJoiKQMV1CN7AMHDujAvsVgBaXaKZd8e6HWPzXmFLP4fnl

Check it out because it includes a photo of a working walnut mill (not in Preuilly, but with identical stones).

Further reading: my blog post on a visit to a local walnut oil producer, where you can take your own walnut harvest for transformation into oil. If you have less than 40 kilos of nuts they are combined with other people's and everyone gets their share. [Link.]

The former Dugué walnut crushing mill in rue du Cygne, Preuilly sur Claise.