Le four à pain

In the middle ages the lord of the village obliged the villagers to use the bread oven in return, generally, for payments in kind. This was his banality right. The communal oven was rented out to bakers called ‘fourniers’. It wasn’t until August 4th 1789 that this right was totally abolished. Bread ovens continued to be used throughout the 19th century. Every large farm had its own bread oven as the development of wheat farming encouraged farmers to do their own baking. Also, the poor state of tracks and paths prevented vehicles from accessing the scattered hamlets.

Loaves of six or twelve pounds in weight were baked for a one or two week supply. The loaves were dense and soft on the inside and had a very thick crust to ensure natural conservation for as long as possible. There were two main types of oven, back-to-back ovens and isolated ovens. The former were built against the pinion of another building in which the oven mouth opened.  The latter were built at a distance in order to avoid the risk of fire. The technical progress made by artisan bakers in the 20th century led to the relentless decline in domestic baking. Because of the restrictions during the second world war several Vichy government decrees gave farmers the right to use their own flour. However, as from 1950 the decline seemed definitive. If they were kept, the buildings or bakehouses were used as laundries or  workshops. Nowadays they serve no purpose but some owners remain very attached to them and enable the conservation of a rich rural heritage.