Godet windmill

Windmill - Petit-Canal

Imposing, on its base, the Moulin de Godet is an illustrious witness to the intense sugar activity of the town. Documented from 1732, the sugar refinery appeared on the map of the king's engineers in 1738 as a large sugar refinery with a beast mill and several slave huts. The estate then belonged to Gabriel de Clugny, governor of the island from 1784 to 1792. She then returned by marriage to the heritage of the Godet des Marais (or Marets) family. The mill, built in basalt stones is decorated with 3 bands, wide at the base, narrow at the top. The north bay in segmental arc presents a cornice. Above, a hollow cartridge is engraved with a cross. Uncommon, the south bay is equipped with a slide to evacuate the bagasse. The vesou chute is dug in the paving. We can notice several rings sealed in the stone to moor the wings. From 1862, the cane was delivered to the factories of Clugny, or Rancougne, a plot having been sold to the Baron de Rancougne. Then around 1870, like most other sugar factories, it integrated the Beauport factory. The mills were constructed in the traditional manner, of stone or limestone rubble held together with mortar made from sand, lime, and traditional cane syrup, their towers rise six to nine meters above their refineries, sails facing east into the trade winds. Several relatively well preserved examples are still visible:  the mystical Dévarieux, with its crucifix in the lintel above the opening; Girard, hidden in vegetation; the elegant Lubeth, with its bushy hair; and the austere Moulin de Michaux.