Unique surviving reinforced concrete headframe of 1943 at Épagne, Saint-Maurice-des-Noues, standing 25 metres over the flooded puits Saint-Michel of the former concession d'Épagne in the Vendée coalfield.
The puits Saint-Michel at the lieu-dit Épagne in the commune of Saint-Maurice-des-Noues, Vendée, carries a reinforced concrete headframe of 25 metres described as unique in France for its form. The shaft belongs to the concession d'Épagne, one of the minor concessions of the bassin houiller de Faymoreau in the Vendée coalfield, which was coal-bearing in the houiller supérieur. The concession d'Épagne was accorded in 1847 with an area of 4.33 square kilometres.
The first puits was sunk in 1847 to 200 metres and closed in 1869. After two further short periods of activity — 1917 to 1921 and 1923 to 1925 — the site was recommissioned in 1943. A reinforced concrete headframe replaced the former wooden chevalement and is the structure visible today; it replaced what had been described as one of only three wooden chevalements surviving in France.
The puits was definitively abandoned in 1950. The shaft is fully flooded; a hydrogéological investigation in 2000 found the boiseries perfectly preserved in clear water at 206-208 metres depth. The headframe stands at Épagne as the primary surviving industrial monument of the concession.
The concession d'Épagne at the lieu-dit Épagne in the commune of Saint-Maurice-des-Noues is one of the several concessions that formed the bassin houiller de Faymoreau in the southern Vendée and the Deux-Sèvres. The coal of the basin was first discovered by a sabotier who encountered it by chance while digging a well at Marillet near Faymoreau, and the resulting exploitation extended from Saint-Maurice-des-Noues to Saint-Laurs in the Deux-Sèvres over 130 years. The concession d'Épagne was accorded in 1847 with a surface area of 4.33 square kilometres.
The coal of the concession was of slightly better quality than that of the neighbouring Puyrinsant and Cézais concessions, but still described as mediocre. The principal seam exploited was the veine Nord. A first puits was sunk in 1847 at the lieu-dit Épagne to a depth of 200 metres.
The exploitation was organised as a rectangular, timbered shaft with a ventilation chimney in the veine Nord. Given the poor quality of the coal, the lack of communications, and the discovery of the richer gisement of the houiller inférieur at the puits du Centre on the Niort-Bressuire railway, the mine was closed in 1869. Between 1845 and 1894, 33 deaths were recorded at the Épagne workings, pointing to persistently poor safety conditions.
A bâtiment d'extraction was constructed in 1914, housing showers, a lampisterie, bases, and ventilators. Two bobines were installed for cable winding; the site was successively equipped with three or four steam engines and later with electric extraction machinery. In 1917 the siège d'Épagne was taken up again and significant works were undertaken.
The shaft was deepened to 200 metres in view of exploiting the four known layers of the houiller supérieur between the 100-metre level and deeper; but these works were again abandoned in 1921. The site was reopened in 1923 before being abandoned once more in 1925. In 1943 the exploitation was recommissioned.
A reinforced concrete headframe was constructed to replace the former wooden chevalement; its distinctive form makes it unique in France. The puits was definitively abandoned in 1950 for want of financial means. The shaft remains fully flooded.
A hydrogéological investigation carried out in 2000 found the shaft accessible to a depth of 206 to 208 metres, with the boiseries preserved in clear water. The reinforced concrete headframe of 25 metres stands at the lieu-dit Épagne as the enduring visible testament of the concession. The coron village at Épagne housed miners of diverse European nationalities, and the commune retains the character of a former mining village.
The bassin houiller de Faymoreau is commemorated at the Centre Minier de Faymoreau museum, opened in 2001 and refurbished in 2018, situated on the site of the former puits Bernard, the principal shaft of the principal concession de Faymoreau.
