• In Chartres-de-Bretagne, near Rennes, the former Lormandière lime manufacturing plant wants to open to the public.

  • Closed for nearly a hundred years, the site bought by the county council is being renovated and would like to welcome visitors.

  • For the time being, only the wild part, including a beautiful pond, is open to the curious, many of whom wish to be able to visit the old brick buildings.

It's a real treasure stashed at the edge of a little busy road.

A haven of peace that has taken up residence in a little-known wild space halfway between the great halls of PSA and the Parc-Expo.

Sheltered from the concrete of the city, the Lormandière site is both a refuge of nature and a precious testimony to the industrial past of Chartres-de-Bretagne.

It is here, a few kilometers south of Rennes, that the largest lime manufacturing company in Brittany was born in 1853, before dying in 1938, a collateral victim of the Second World War.

Since the closure, the site remained frozen for a long time before being partially restored at the instigation of local associations and the Ille-et-Vilaine department.

Owner of the site, which it classified as a sensitive natural area, the Breton community wanted to buy it back in the 1980s, intrigued by the unusual nature of the soil.

“Normally, the soils of Brittany are rather acidic.

But not here where we have limestone.

That's why the lime kilns were set up on this site,” explains Thibaut Gaborit, from the department's natural heritage department.

Heated to more than 1,000 degrees, the limestone was transformed into quicklime, which was used to enrich agricultural soils or even as a building material.

A little-known site in Rennes

The extraction of the rock has also transformed the site by digging a large quarry, today filled with water.

This blue-tinted pond sees an increasing number of walkers encircle it every year, especially since the opening of an educational trail.

“This site is best known to the inhabitants of Bruz and Chartres but not really to the people of Rennes.

It's a nice walk, but people are often frustrated to see industrial buildings without being able to visit them,” admits Yann Soulabaille, vice-president of the department responsible for biodiversity and natural areas.

In reflection for years, the opening of the old factory to the public should materialize in the next three years.

“We have already carried out a two-year project to restore certain buildings such as the old forge.

But we don't want to make it an empty shell or a frozen museum.

We want to bring this site back to life through events and visits,” continues Thibaut Gaborit.

His chosen one is even quicker to get carried away.

“We want to create a guinguette in the old house located next door, so that everyone can enjoy it.

There is so much to do to make known the working memory of La Lormandière”.

Opening to the public within two to three years

To bring the site to life on a daily basis and find a structure in residence, the department had launched a call for projects from local associations.

She finally gave her consent to the Terre association, which designs bricks made from raw earth by employing people in very precarious situations.

Affiliated with the Emmaüs community, the structure is still thinking about the advisability of installing its solidarity brickyard in this place steeped in history.

If it presents constraints, it also offers solid arguments.

“The site has a strong personality and it would make total sense to settle here for us.

We are still thinking,” summarizes Ombeline Toi, one of the volunteers from the Terre association.

His answer is expected before the summer.

As for the opening of the wasteland to the public, it should take place within “two to three years” according to the department.

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Very rare orchids

The atypical composition of the limestone soils of La Lormandière makes this site a rare place in Brittany.

There is lush vegetation that makes it a real museum of biodiversity where fifty species of birds have been identified.

At the end of spring, you will be able to discover some beautiful and quite unique flowering orchids: the bee orchid, the pyramidal orchid and the goat orchid.

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