Huilerie de Fondremand

Huilerie de Fondremand is a historic oil mill in Fondremand, a small village in the Haute-Saône department of Franche-Comté, listed among the region's officially recognised villages of character. The mill stands right at the foot of the village's medieval castle, on the banks of the Romaine river, about 22 km southwest of Vesoul.

What is the history behind this mill?

The mill is documented as far back as the 13th century, when it operated as the castle's seigneurial (banal) mill — local villagers were required to have their grain ground here. A record from 1745 describes it as a simple barn housing an oil press, a waterwheel, and a pair of millstones, used to extract oil from rapeseed, walnuts, and poppy seeds.

The building lost its role as an oil mill before 1831. It was converted into a grain-threshing mill in 1834, enlarged in 1860, and turned into a private residence around the turn of the 20th century — for decades it stood without any industrial function at all.

Everything changed in 1985, when new owners undertook a full restoration: they rebuilt the water intake channel and reconstructed the five-metre paddle wheel, which drives, through a gear mechanism, the "ribe" — a vertical rotating stone used to press oil. Since 9 July 1997, the mill's facades, roof, and water channel have been listed as a registered historic monument in France.

What can you see during a visit?

Tours are led by the owners themselves, who walk visitors through the building's long history and explain how its machinery works — the waterwheel, the gear train, and the oil-pressing stone. It is a rare chance to watch, in a fully restored setting, the kind of traditional oil-pressing process that shaped rural life in this part of Franche-Comté for centuries.

What can you taste or buy on site?

Tastings are part of the visit. Guests can sample walnut oil, along with "tourteau" — the pressed walnut cake left over from oil extraction, traditionally eaten as a treat — as well as flour milled on site and apple juice. The shop also sells flour, dried chestnuts and walnuts, herbal teas, and homemade jams and syrups.

Practical information for visitors

Fondremand sits in the Haute-Saône department near Vesoul and is recognised as one of the architecturally distinctive villages of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The mill is located in the heart of the village, right next to the castle, making it easy to combine a visit to the oil mill with a walk around the rest of the village.

Frequently asked questions

Is the visit guided? Yes, the owners themselves lead the tour, sharing the mill's history and demonstrating how the machinery operates.

What products can I buy there? Walnut oil, flour, apple juice, dried walnuts and chestnuts, herbal teas, and homemade jams and syrups.

Is the mill a protected historic site? Yes, since 1997 its facades, roof, and water intake channel have been listed as a registered historic monument in France.

Does the mill still work the way it used to? Following the 1985 restoration, the original mechanism — the waterwheel and the oil-pressing stone — was brought back into working order and is shown to visitors during tours.