Cuncy-lès-Varzy
The Cuncy-lès-Varzy Weighbridge
The weighbridge was constructed in 1951 by the Société Anonyme de Construction de Ponts à Bascule de Voiron (Isère), a company that specialized in the construction of weighbridges.
Load Capacity is 2 tons. The platform measures 1.50m x 2.50m. The weighbridge uses a double-ended Roman steelyard mechanism, with a central column that supports the platform. This design does not require any impression or markings on the platform itself to measure the weight.
Village Scales or Public Weighing Stations
Between the late 19th and early 20th century, scales for livestock and agricultural product were indispensable tools for the rural economy, which was entirely dependent on agriculture and livestock farming. They were necessary for negotiations and transactions.
A cabin houses the "arm" of the device with its sliding counterweight, allowing the weight to be read. In the pit, located under the platform surrounded by barriers to contain the livestock, a complex system of levers allows the load to be weighed.
The Retaining Wall
Located a bit higher up, in the bend, the retaining wall was constructed in 1867 and enabled the creation of a road connecting Cuncy-le-Bas to Cuncy-le-Haut, replacing the steep paths that previously made this connection. The wall measures 6 meters high at its tallest point, and extends 25 meters in length. It was restored in 1920.
The Weighbridge of Mhers
In 1949, the commune of Cuncy-lès-Varzy requested a short-term loan of 140,000 Francs from the Caisse Régionale du Crédit Agricole Mutuel to purchase and install a public weighbridge (bascule publique) in the hamlet of Mhers. This loan was to be repaid through sale proceeds from an exceptional cutting of section N°3 of the Mhers communal forest reserve.
The Fountain of Cuncy
Before the arrival of running water, it was at this fountain that the inhabitants came to get supplies by operating the crank of the chain pump wheel. Its operating principle is to raise a column of water in a tube, thanks to rubber washers of the same diameter at the inside of the tube. These are fixed at regular intervals on a chain driven by the crank. The flow rate of the chain pump depends on the diameter of the tube and the rotation speed of the chain.
On the other side of the path, a building housed a public laundry.
The Presbytery
At the beginning of the 19th century, the sale of wood financed the purchase by the community of a house to serve as the presbytery. At the beginning of the 20th century, the building lost its status as a priest's house to accommodate a family. The parish priest then lived in a house located behind the town hall - school.
In 1949 the building regained its initial function and the new parish priest occupied it with his housekeeper until their departure for other duties in 1964. From that date on, there would no longer be a priest appointed in Cuncy. The diminishing number of priests led to increasingly larger groupings of parishes. Initially Cuncy merged with neighboring rural parishes, then with that of Varzy (canton capital) and finally with that of Clamecy (district capital).
Long unoccupied, the presbytery was renovated in the later part of the 20th century and converted into a community hall.
The Bridge of Mhers
In 1845, Cuncy-lès-Varzy obtained a credit of 1500 Francs by the Sub-Prefecture of Clamecy for the construction of a pond in the hamlet of Mhers. As the contractor consulted could not guarantee that the pond would retain water, the project was abandoned. In a deliberation on October 14, 1845, the municipal council proposed and obtained authorization from the Sub-Prefect to use this credit as follows:
Urgent repairs on a building located in Vesvres: 100 F
Dredging and widening of the stream: 200 F
Construction of a bridge in Mhers: 1,200 F
The company Picoret Toussaint was tasked with building the structure, for which the acceptance report was written by the canton's supervisor of roads. (The person responsible for verifying the compliance of communal property and roads). It was approved by the Sub-Prefect on October 23, 1846.
From that date on, the ford located downstream was advantageously replaced by a bridge. A few steps along the path allow to appreciate the regular design of the curves of its single arch. It allows in all seasons to cross the current stream of the Serres pond, which at that time was called the Béchereau stream. This small watercourse can suddenly, during a period of heavy rains, invade the surrounding meadows. From the end of spring, it becomes an increasingly thin stream of water and eventually disappears.
Thanks to this bridge, the right bank of the stream became easily accessible, which allowed the school to be established there in 1890. Initially all the parapets were made of stone. To allow the passage of increasingly wider agricultural machinery, some have been replaced by thinner metal protections.
1 If the designation of “agent-voyer” or road supervisor has become obsolete, there remains the verb "dévoyer" which meant to corrupt the road supervisor and now means to pervert or lead astray
The Open-Air Wash House
Originally, a washing place was just a flat stone or a simple plank placed at the edge of a watercourse, pond or spring. It was then without shelter, exposed to the elements. In the middle of the 18th century, pollution due to the industrial revolution, cholera, smallpox and typhoid epidemics, and then health concerns prompted Parliament to subsidise the construction of covered wash-houses.
The Open-Air Laundry of Cuncy
A special feature are the two levels of cut stone curbs located one above the other, thus allowing its users to choose the one best suited to the water level of the pond.
Each washerwoman had her own box or « la bouète” in Nivernais dialect, a kind of wooden crate without a back or lid, the bottom of which was lined with rags or a handful of straw. This utensil, in which she knelt, isolated her from the cold, the roughness of the ground, and protected her from water splashes.
Each one also had her “tapoir” (le tapoué in Nivernais), a kind of thick, square racket with which the washerwoman beat the laundry as she lifted it out of the water. This vigorous action loosened the dirty particles from the fibers of the fabric. A cube-shaped soap and a scrubbing brush made from dogbane roots completed her equipment.
The School of Mhers
A school was founded in Mhers in 1878. Until 1889, the residents of Mhers, who had several buildings, rented one to the municipality for a period of 3 years. It served as a place of education and was called the "Maison d'école" (School House).
Dating from 1890, this construction, surrounded by a stone wall, is in the Neoclassical style. From the courtyard, initially not tree-lined, one accessed an open porch that served as a cloakroom and led to the classroom generously lit by four windows. At the other end was the teacher's accommodation. The bell that tops the roof summoned the students to their desks in the morning and afternoon. This functional aspect was accompanied by a symbolic concern. Its ringing rhythmed the life of the families, thus allowing the Republic to share the role played by the Church from the top of its steeples.
The single classroom, which brought together children of all levels from learning to read to preparing for the Primary Studies Certificate, welcomed many cohorts of students. It was common to see more than thirty children regularly attending the school.
Demographic changes led to a steady decline in enrollment, resulting in the closure of the school in 1945. From that date, the children of Mhers had to walk 2.5 km each day to the school in Cuncy-lès-Varzy, carrying their school supplies and midday meal.
During national and local elections, it was normal that the polling station and electoral display boards were installed in this republican space. Before the closure of the school, it was on the first floor, above the teacher's accommodation, that the president and his assessors collected the votes of their fellow citizens in a wooden ballot box. Until the arrival of electricity, the scrutineers counted the ballots by candlelight.
The former teacher's accommodation has been renovated and is now offered for rent.
The Town Hall-School of Cluny-lès-Varzy
Even though most of them have lost all teaching-related activities, town hall-schools are a testament to the involvement of even the smallest municipalities in the literacy and education efforts that have marked France since the second half of the 19th century.
The building, constructed in 1835, has a classroom on the left and a teacher's accommodation that extends over part of the first floor on the right. The rest of this level is occupied by the village-council meeting room.
The single classroom accommodated students aged 6 to 14, from learning to read to preparing for the Primary Studies Certificate. In 1978, faced with declining enrollment, the National Education Inspector proposed the creation of an inter-municipal educational grouping (RPI) associating the communes of Cuncy-lès-Varzy, Saint Pierre du Mont and Courcelles. This innovative organization would serve as a model for other municipalities. The single classrooms disappeared, the students were distributed across the 3 sites according to their age, and a school bus service was organized as well as a catering area.The school of Cuncy was chosen to house the pre-school and reception classe.
In 1983, the classroom became a preschool, a rare offering in rural areas that would have attracted families from outside the aera of the educational grouping. A room for movement and a rest room were added and a Specialized Territorial Agent for Preschools (ATSEM) was hired to assist the teacher.
Despite the extension of the RPI to the commune of La Chapelle Saint André, the drop in enrollment led to the closure of a class in 2011 and the dissolution of the RPI in 2016, with all the students being moved to Varzy. The building was then remodelled, with a town council meeting room and offices set up on the ground floor. A rental flat now occupies part of the first floor.
The Church of Saint Martin in Cuncy-lès-Varzy
The parish of Cuncy-lès-Varzy was created in 1075 by the Bishop of Auxerre, Geoffroy de Champallement (1052-1076). A Romanesque church was then built on this site along the Way of St. James of Compostela departing from Vézelay. Of this construction, only a few foundations and part of the bell tower remain. The current church is in the Flamboyant Gothic style and was built between 1500 and 1525. Until 1845, it was surrounded by a cemetery. It has been listed as a historic monument since October 20, 1971.
The interior of the building is divided into 5 bays with ribbed vaults.
At the entrance near the main door are the baptismal fonts. They consist of a base dating from 1784 on which two half-basins in Nevers earthenware signed Montagnon are placed (not displayed in the church). One represents Saint Martin, the other the Baptism of Christ. Above the entrance door is a painting classified as a historic monument in 1976, entitled "The Ascent to Calvary", inspired by a work of Bernardino Luini.
One of the walls of the nave is occupied by a polychrome wooden crucifix dating from the 17th century, listed as a historic monument in 1975.
The apse is adorned with a 16th century stained glass window, classified as a historic monument in 1976, depicting the life of Saint Martin. In the right chapel, Saint John the Baptist is represented by a statue and also on an 18th century painting listed as a historic monument in 1975.
The hand bell of Saint Pèlerin in bronze with an iron handle (not displayed in the church) is listed as a historic monument in 1976. Its sound is reputed to be protective. Two very old slabs are located in the chapel of the Virgin (on the right). The first, under the benches, is the tomb of a gentleman named Lupus de Poret who was attached to the person of the Duke of Anjou and then Captain of the Guards of the Duke of Nevers. He was buried on Sunday, November 27, 1587. The second, at the foot of the altar, is that of Claude de Cerre, who died on August 16, 1640.
In 2021, the complete renovation of the church's roof (with a new weathervane) and the installation of gutters led to the stabilization of the walls, allowing for the renovation of the interior of the building.
The War Memorial
There was no legal obligation to erect a war memorial, but the law of October 25, 1919 on the "commemoration and glorification of those killed for France during the Great War" encouraged it through the institution of a state subsidy. Thus, more than 36,000 war memorials were erected in France between 1918 and 1926. Located near the church, the war memorial of Cuncy-lès-Varzy was inaugurated on November 26, 1922. It is a commemorative pillar in the shape of an obelisk, built of Volvic stone. It is a cenotaph monument (at the foot of which no body is buried).
The Wash House of Chêne-au-Franc
All wash-houses of the commune have the same design. Facing full south, a facade formed of columns generously lets in the sun, while the three other walls provide protection against the westerly rain-bearing winds and the cold winds coming from the north and east.
This wash house was built in 1832, probably on the site of an open-air wash house. The spring emerges into a first small basin surrounded by a high semi-circular masonry wall, then crosses through the building. It was restored in 1990 thanks to a 3rd prize worth 20,000 francs obtained through a competition of the heritage organisation REMPART (“Recherchez une Mission Patrimoine”) named “Au fil du temps, au fil de l'eau" (The flow of time, the flow of water) and a subsidy from the Burgundy Region.
The wash-house of Vertenet
All wash-houses of the commune have the same design. Facing full south, a facade formed of columns generously lets in the sun, while the three other walls provide protection against the westerly rain-bearing winds and the cold winds coming from the north and east.
The hamlet of Vertenet had 34 inhabitants spread across 9 houses in 1820. The last 2 inhabitants recorded in 1906 had left the hamlet by the 1911 census. Practically no trace remains from that period. This laundry is the sole witness to a once lively past. The building, which had suffered the outrages of time, was also threatened to disappear when it was restored in 2006. Located on the Way of St. James to Compostela starting from Vézelay, the place constitutes a peaceful stop for pilgrims. On the base of the cross located near the laundry, the pilgrims can leave their stone and take another which they will discard at the next stop.
The wash house of Mhers
All wash-houses of the commune have the same design. Facing full south, a facade formed of columns generously lets in the sun, while the three other walls provide protection against the westerly rain-bearing winds and the cold winds coming from the north and east.
Built in 1832, it is located near a water spring that first supplied a drinking trough for animals. A pump emptying into a trough also allowed the drinking trough to be supplied if the spring's flow weakened. The water flowed into the wash house through the supply channel, with the overflow joining the stream via the drainage channel.
The Footbridge
Located behind the wash house, it was built in 1937. On the upstream side, one can distinguish the remains of a ford allowing the crossing of the stream.