DESCHODT Maurice (1899-1971) - Lot 127

DESCHODT Maurice (1899-1971) View of the Deschodt mill or Briarde mill in Wormhout Oil on canvas Signed lower left (restorations) 44 x 66 cm Note: Built in 1756, this is the most authentic pivot windmill in the region. It is also the only survivor of the 11 windmills in the commune of Wormhout. They were gradually decimated by the advent of steam-powered flour mills, the passing of disastrous milling laws and the wars. Ignace COUDEVILLE built the Moulin de la Briarde, now known as the Moulin DESCHODT, at Le Riecle. The transom bears the initials of the two carpenters, Philipe François and Ingelbertus Martin DE SMYTTERE, who built it. In 1891, the pivot, attacked by a wood disease, broke under the action of a strong wind, and when it was repaired, it was moved 200 meters. Relocated and restored, it became the property of DESCHAMPS DE PAS Joseph, then of the BEYAERT brothers, millers. The mill remained abandoned until it was taken over in 1921 by Mr. Abel DESCHODT. A perfect example of a vigorous Fleming and a staunch defender of mill preservation, he restored "La Briarde". La Bluterie dates back to 1926, when an oil engine was used to power the wind before 1939. During the war, it was replaced by an old steam locomotive, and since the liberation, by a 25 HP electric motor driving one of the two millstones. Flour production ceased around 1963. Mr. DESCHODT died on December 4, 1967, one year after donating his mill to the commune of Wormhout. The municipality, with the help of the Association Régionale des Amis des Moulins, undertook major restoration work. A wooden mill on a two-storey pivot, its wingspan reaches 24 meters. Its weight is estimated at 80 tonnes.