La Poudrerie d'Esquerdes - France - Converted Factories on Waymarking.com

"This powder was created at the end of the seventeenth century by the" Régie Royale des Poudres et Salpêtres "under Louis XIV, by its minister of military affairs, Michel Le Tellier.
Two mills then existing on the site were converted into powder mills (saltpeter crushing (also called "nitrate") and charcoal produced from glutinous alder in the nearby "carbonnerie" or "Carbonnière" maintained in the valley of the Aa.
In 1883, decrees of expropriation allowed the state to acquire dozens of additional plots to expand the military powder of Esquerdes; 16 ha, 88 ares and 37 centiares are thus purchased by the state for 82 425 F of the time.
This blizzard is one of the strategic points on the maps of the First World War made by the British airmen.
Since its equipment became obsolete, it ceased operations in 1970 and was finally closed in 1972.
Approximately 130 buildings scattered in a 26-hectare site served to house or manufacture the explosives, although the soil was polluted by large quantities of nitrates (nitre is one of the main compounds of the powder). Abandoned for about 40 years, some of these buildings were in the 1980s "pierced" by trees that recolonized all this industrial wasteland.
History and future of the site [edit | change the code]
The site was bought by various owners (one English, one Belgian), then 13 of 26 ha were bought by the commune in 1995, and 10 ha by the Pas-de-Calais General Council before half of the site was acquired by the General Council in order to open it to the public (on the only part of which it is the owner) after having been cleaned and equipped with the help of the EPF (Public Land Institution, a regional body which associates the State and the The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Regional Council and the State to make land portages and pre-development of polluted and / or requalified sites). The other part of the site was bought by a hunting civilian real estate company.
This site is episodically affected by floods that are not abnormal since it was deliberately built in the minor and major bed of the Aa, precisely so that it can be flooded in case of fire to limit the risk of explosion of ammunition.
At the initiative of a sub-prefect of Saint-Omer, the site which had been colonized by a large spontaneous afforestation, was almost shaved and deforested to give work to the unemployed. Many trees were cut and some banks were at that time heavily deforested. The construction site was stopped due to the lack of clearance by the DRAF.
In January 1999, the Pas-de-Calais department, owner of part of the site, set up a wooded park, a car park and a discovery trail to welcome the public, who can see lamprey in particular. small coastal river.
The municipality was responsible for the renovation of the main building, which now became the hall and the fireplace, inaugurated on April 24, 1999 and June 9, 2000. A small bell-tower of 1856, decorating one of the buildings built alongside the road has been preserved and restored. "

Address:: Esquerdes 62380 Year built: 1700 Year converted: 1999 Web page: [Web Link]

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