Site history
The Mill in 1810: Flour Production
The Estate During World War II: The Resistance
The Estate Today: Frédéric Levesque, Sculptor
Flour production in 1810
The 1810 document below shows the mill's daily flour production was four hundredweight per day or about 400 kg. Today, more than 210 years later, the mill no longer produces flour, however, barley remains an essential commodity for successful operations on the site.
World War II Resistance
In 1944, the Gestapo and the militia occupied Miserai and used the chateau as a base to search for weapons parachuted on the "Guard" drop zone, a zone approved by the Air Operations Bureau or BOA. The BOA was created by general de Gaulle to rationalize connections between the internal resistance and the free France in order to deliver weapons, ammunitions and supplies. On June 5, the militia and the Gestapo organized a search of the property. Finding nothing near the chateau, they decided to broaden their investigations and, at gunpoint, forced the owner of the estate, Mr. Judicaël Levesque, to lead them first to the watermill and then to La Poussinière, an abandoned caretaker's house.
Mr Levesque knew his son Jerome who led the resistance in the "maquis de l'Home Chamondot" had hidden weapons in the attic of La Poussinière and somewhere around the mill, he also knew that he would be shot immediately if the Germans found them. Fortunately, Jerome had a hunch and removed the weapons and ammunition from the attic half an hour earlier to hide them somewhere in the nearby woods. To Mr. Levesque's surprise and relief, the weapons were not found. 48 years later, however, in 1992, during the emptying and cleaning of the Brotz lake, several boxes of grenades were discovered in the mud and defused by the demining service.
Monique Level, survivor of the L’Hôme Chamondot massacre
August 9, 1944. The tragedy of L’Hôme-Chamondot
The Allies are approaching and the prison of the Dukes of Alençon must be evacuated. The Germans unceremoniously took the incarcerated resistance fighters to Alençon, the Dukes' prison. Under the Occupation, the old building became a prison where the Germans interned many patriots. On the morning of August 9, there was unusual agitation: guttural screams, the sound of boots and the clicking of locks. The Allies are approaching and certain prisoners must not fall into their hands.
Like others, Monique, a young Calvadosian arrested shortly before during a reconnaissance mission, is taken from her cell and taken to the courtyard. There, a group of chained men wait with bowed heads. Everyone is soon shoved unceremoniously into a Red Cross ambulance and heads off into the unknown, under the surveillance of a militiaman sitting at their side. Behind them, the Gestapo's famous black front-wheel drive. Alençon, Mortagne, Tourouvre….In the truck, Monique observes her companions in misfortune: “Their interrogations must have been very painful and their swollen faces testified to the brutality of the Nazi police officers. Only one was silent. The others, taking advantage of the noise of our rickety vehicle, began to talk and their words were rather discouraged. All married, they had left worried families at home, without money, without help. » Destiny sealed!
These men are all important members of the Resistance: Fernand Chasseguet, controller of the PTT, responsible for the FFI for the Alençon sector; François Bouilhac, foundry director, who succeeded him after his arrest; Albert Frémiot, entrepreneur, member of the Air Operations Office of the Sées region; Jean Mazeline, resistance fighter from the Écouves forest and brother of the departmental head of the FFI; Jean Moreau, FTP, member of the FFI regional staff. Shortly after Tourouvre, the ambulance leaves the road and takes a winding path, before stopping in the grounds of the Château de Brotz, in L’Hôme-Chamondot. The Alençon Gestapo retreated there with its French auxiliaries from the sinister “Garden gang”.
Screaming, the militiamen take the prisoners down and make them sit in a meadow. It won't take long for them to decide their fate. Moments later, an order seals their fate. They are taken to a bush where a freshly opened pit awaits them. Spared at the last moment, Monique, locked in a room in the chateau, hears the five gun shots. Her life is spared, but she will be deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp.
Frédéric Levesque, Sculptor
Miserai was the home of sculptor Frederic Levesque (1960 – 2010) where he spent most of his life. You can visit the art gallery where his pieces are showcased on the mezzanine floor of the barn for you to discover, admire and enjoy his creative genius.
Mr. Steve Pseno, creative director for Design Toscano of Chicago said: “He was the first artist Design Toscano partnered with to create unique statues. His “Winston” and “Feast on Fools” gargoyles helped garner attention for Toscano, leading to a mention in Time magazine.
Known for his imaginative, Gothic fairy tale sculptures, Frederic first exhibited at the Grand Palais in 1987. A graduate of the highly regarded école Des Beaux-Arts in Paris, whose esteemed graduates include Degas, Delacroix, Fragonard, Ingres, Monet, Moreau, Renoir, Seurat, and Sisley, Levesque went on to become famous worldwide for his work as an illustrator and avant-garde sculptor.
Levesque’s work showed his love for his native region of Normandy, but he also brought in worldwide themes, making his work universal. He brought in themes from all over art history, from the Middle Ages and 18th-century French fairy tales to French film spoofs. He also created parodies of various works of motion picture art, including Georges Melies’ A trip to the Moon (1902) and W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922). Frederic created more than 200 truly unique works of art, from a submarine engulfed by a giant squid and an actual smoke-breathing dragon called Bessemer to an alligator lunching on his caretaker. His designs were done in a style that was truly Frederic: proportionally exaggerated and comically robust. “He was truly one of a kind.”
And then came the Gargoyles, a little bit of toad slime, some salamander powder, an ounce of plaster and you have Frederic Levesque’s gargoyles. Monsters, half devil, half beast, these chimeras are worked to the smallest details with incredible patience to characterize complex dreams. They arouse our imaginations and remind us of our legends.
Frédéric’s laid-back approach to everyday problems, as well as his fascination with local legends, inspired us to create the “Coule Douce” range of beers.
A selection of his sculptures is exposed in the taproom.
