La vieille pierre

Do you recognize this place ?

Villey le sec has always been a village of vineyards. From its creation, there were vines and therefore grapes and to make wine, you need a press.

The press was a seigneurial right. There was the banal wine press (in use all over the ban) and you had to pay to use it. This wine press was in a building belonging to the lord and which he maintained. This building was also called "the press".

For the moment, Jean Pierre has not yet found the exact location of the building.

On the 1810 cadastre, there is a locality called "behind the presses" and which is located where the water tower was built. The expression "the presses" can be explained because there could be 2 presses. The large one for large quantities and the small one for small "rush".

The region’s presses have long been of the tree and stone type. This is our famous stone, the one that adorns the northern entrance to the village.

The principle was based on the weight of the tree (it was often an assembly of wooden planks) which was allowed to descend onto planks which pressed the grapes. This was in a large bowl with slits to let the juice through. The large stone served as a support pivot for the press screw (the top of this screw could be guided by a housing in the ceiling).

The fairly heavy weight of this stone also made it possible to force the planks down to crush the grapes harder.

This stone was inside a housing made in the ground, of the same shape, that is to say hexagonal, so as not to turn when the screw was actuated.

These presses were "monsters" that were often repaired (especially the screw), but they were never moved.