CIRCUIT OF WELLS

THE OUTSTANDING WELLS
Beaulieu sur Loire counts approximately 200 wells that are spread over the 51 hamlets of the commune .One finds a well on the commune since the Gallo-Roman era on the site of the canardière (nonvisible). Some wells in the borough are present on the old land registers (Well of ECU, street of Beugnon, main street). The Borough presents approximately 80 wells,while the hamlet of Mainbray approximately 35 yet other hamlets count only one of them.
1. Well of Gauvins. It is the deepest of the commune: 55 meters. 2 cranks make it possible to carry up water.
2. Well of Havenat. Many wells are visible from the road. The name of this hamlet remains still dubious. Originally , "Well of Havenat"; this can- be the Havenat family which would have given her name to the hamlet. Since the Gallo-Roman period until the beginning of the 19th century, the hamlet was a place of extraction of the iron ore.
3. Well of Doucets. Well in the bottom of the furnace that is common to several farms.
4. Well of the Borough.
- Well of ECU. It owes its name to the Inn of the ECU, that is an old relay of Station. This common well surmounted of an ironwork carries the date of 1771 on the crank. There is only two wells of this type in the borough. - Well of Main street. It was honored by a postcard in the beginning of the XXth century (see cover). This common well is surmounted of an ironwork.

WATER..
We had the idea to make you discover Beaulieu sur Loire through a "circuit of the wells". Many, today, are used only for watering gardens even though the pumps and the tap replaced the crank. The Welldiggers work in summer as well as in winter First of all they call upon the waterfinder who indicates the place to them where water will be sufficient to supply the well in any season. They dig and go up the ground with a "goat" until finding water, install a pump in order to continue to work "with dryness". They must support the ground with quarry stones. In the beginning of the 19th century, the buzzards replaced the stone and the curbstones out of concrete made their appearance. The "DUMONT" Company worked much on Beaulieu and one can see on certain wells: "DUMONT" followed with the date of the installation of curbstone. The wells are generally covered either with wood, iron or out of stone (bottom of furnace) to avoid the stains. The water of the well was, until the arrival of the water conveyance around 1960 in Beaulieu, the only means of carrying out the tasks of the everyday life. The wells are also a source of legends and the parents did not hesitate to create a "monster of the well" in order to prevent the children from approaching them

PARTICULAR WELLS
Well with two cranks:
The two cranks made it possible to two people to draw water in deep wells with less effort but also to reassemble larger buckets. The wells are visible in the circuit of Gauvins and the Well of Havenat.
Well with two winches
The winch is a cylinder out of wooden, with 20 centimetres in diameter, around which is rolled up the chain or the cable which holds the bucket. The well, generally common, could be located on two properties and two people could ,each one on a side, draw water from the well.
Well with two floors
A well of this type existed in Beaulieu sur Loire. This well made it possible to draw water while being in the ground floor and the cellar