Moulin de Barutel - Sarthe Tourism

The Barutel mill has been known since the Middle Ages. It was owned by the monks of the Cistercian abbey of Perseigne. Its origins date back to the 11th century or even the end of the 10th century. In a charter dated June 1199, Arthur of Brittany, Count of Maine, confirmed all the abbey's possessions. The Baron of Saosnois, Robert II d'Alençon, also confirmed this membership of the famous abbey in 1214 (lodgings, mill, fief, land and men of Barutel).Archives du Diocèse

Fed by a reach of the river Dive near the Quai Adet, the mill had a small water reservoir, which blocked the rue de Cinq ans, crossed by a footbridge, and which was used to drive another wheel. From 1919, it was owned by Madeleine Guilbert (of Logis de Barutel). Its last miller was Robert Couronné, who supplied flour to the inhabitants of Mamertin until he ceased his activity in 1973, when the millstream was filled in to widen the Quai Adet for reasons of automobile and commercial traffic, to the detriment of the mill and the miller's cessation of activity, thus condemning and depriving the mill of its water. Over the last 5 years, the old wheel has been considerably damaged and unusable; only the central axis is original to our purchase of the mill.

In recent years, the mill has been bought by Virginie and Jonathan Mouchel, a passionate couple from Mamertin, who fell in love with it immediately in 2018. Since then, they have been patiently restoring it to its former glory.

That's why Virginie and Jonathan have decided to create a GÎTE from 2019, with the opening of a SPA ESPACE BIEN ÊTRE in 2020 (with a gym and bowling green in progress), offering local goodies: totebags, key rings and soaps in different fragrances bearing the mill's effigy.

Virginie and Jonathan have also been keen to breathe new life into their mill by reclaiming its restored millstream and installing a NEW WHEEL, which will be inaugurated in June 2023 during a festive and convivial JPPM (Journée petit patrimoine et des moulins). The owners also plan to develop various activities with schools and cultural events in the future.

The Mill can be visited by appointment only at 0612641619