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Coal mining is very ancient and dates back to the Middle Ages, but experienced significant development at the end of the 18th century and especially during the Industrial Revolution in the second half of the 19th century. 

Coal is a solid fuel originating from the fossilization of plants, occurring in deposits as seams. These plant organisms gradually decomposed since the Carboniferous period.

It is worth noting that, despite its coal wealth, France was never self-sufficient in coal, and even at the peak of production in the 1960s, it always imported foreign coal.

At Blanzy, the concession was granted on January 5, 1771, by a royal letter. In total, 151 wells and 29 staple shafts were dug for the Blanzy-Monceau basins.

In the region, the only remaining headframe belongs to the volunteer association “La Mine et les Hommes”.

Through an immense restoration effort, they reconstituted the world and living conditions of the miners.  Visitors discover the lamp room, where miners picked up their lamps; the miners’ locker room (“salle des pendus”) and the pithead building surrounding the headframe, before heading underground into a reconstructed mine.