QR Veyre-Monton – Bourg 10
The « Bonne Fontaine »
The only drinking fountain in the village, the Bonne Fontaine is supplied by the oldest water catchment in Monton. The 1630 engraved on the ashlar under the doorway on the left may refer to the year the façade was refurbished. Its flow rate was measured in 1885 at 2.72 litres per minute.
The washhouse dates from after 1914. Previously, the washer women would go down to the river near Saint-Alyre. The commune even installed a public washhouse on land it acquired in 1884. Proof that people were still unable to imagine new water sources could be found in Monton!
Next to the fountain was a blacksmith’s workshop. Usually made of wood and covered with a small roof, these shackles were used to shoe oxen and cows. The animals were tied down by a yoke and held in place with belly straps. Unlike equines, which can stand on three legs, cattle had to be lifted slightly to be shod.
This was done at a forge located at 3 Rue du Cheix. The ironwork on the entrance gate still bears the initials of the craftsman and his tools: hammer and anvil on one side, compass and square on the other.
The Tour du Bailly
This tower, acquired by the commune in the 1990s and subsequently restored, was part of the village walls in the Middle Ages. A doorway and hinges indicate that it guarded the eastern entrance to Monton, on the side of the Faubourg du Cheix side. The fire hydrant that can be seen here may date from the time of the Wars of Religion (1562-1598).
Its current name refers to the successive bailiffs of Monton. During the reign of Alfonse de Poitiers (1241-1270), brother of King Louis IX (Saint Louis), Monton was the seat of an important « baillie », an administrative and judicial district whose jurisdiction extended from Saint-Saturnin to Orcet, from La Roche-Blanche to Perrier. Then, the administrative organisation changed. The Bailiff of Monton became no more than a mere officer in the service of the lord. He simultaneously played the roles of administrator, tax collector and judge, which continued until the Revolution but with increasingly restricted powers.