Mining heritage
The Champagnac-Ydes coalfield is a portion of the great coal furrow that crosses the Massif-Central. This small basin measures 3 km at its widest point and stretches for 16 km, from Bort-les-Orgues to Jaleyrac.
Farmhouse extraction
The first handwritten records of the presence of coal in the village of Champagnac date back to the 16th century. Coal outcrops in various parts of the village and surrounding area offered peasants the opportunity to extract coal for their own heating needs, but also to sell it to blacksmiths and farriers.
It wasn’t until 1836 that royal concessions began to be granted for official coal mining.
A form of coal industrialization began in 1842. Coal was mined and transported by mule to the port of Vernéjoux on the Dordogne, from where barges left for Argentat and Bordeaux.
The creation of the Champagnac railway station in 1882 marked the beginning of industrialization.
The railroad line, built by the Paris-Orléans company, put an end to water transport and significantly accelerated the marketing of coal. By 1938, coal production had reached 150,000 tonnes a year.
In 1959, due to insufficient profitability and the arrival of new technologies, the shafts closed, the galleries were backfilled and most of the buildings were demolished. Even today, a few vestiges of this era remain.
These include former workers’ housing estates at Vendes (Bassignac), Bois de Lempre (Champagnac) and Fanostre (Ydes). A former coke oven in Ydes is now the Mine Memorial. In 1991, the Mine Museum was inaugurated in Champagnac, retracing the history of the coalfield.
Two exhibition rooms feature a scale model of the mine floor, the geology of the site, the miner’s tools and accessories, and a film of personal accounts.