Chevaux d’industrie en Basse-Normandie : les exemples des houillères et des tuileries-briqueteries

Industrial horses in the Basse-Normandie region, the examples of coal mines and tile and brick-works. In his paper ‘Mémoire sur la houillère de Littry’ written between 1796 and 1799, Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury provides details about the important role played by horses in the coal mine of Littry, in Normandy. From the early nineteenth century, the horse-driven gins used for extracting coal were replaced by steam engines. Throughout the nineteenth century, other sectors of activity in lower Normandy employed horse-powered machinery, but overall in only a few companies. Such was the case in some slate quarries, textile manufactures and breweries. The sector which most frequently used the horse as a source of power was undoubtedly the production of architectural ceramics. Up until the First World War, several regional tile and brick manufacturers also used horse-powered grinding mills for the preparation of their clay.