Le château d'Olly

Château d'Olly is a manor house built around 1830, probably on the site of an old mill. It nestles at the confluence of the Hatrelle and Givonne rivers. Its industrial past is marked firstly by a brickworks, documented as early as 1858, and then above all by a spinning mill, the site's main activity. This textile industry was part of the dynamic Sedan region, renowned for its Point de Sedan carpets, and benefited from the hydraulic power of the two rivers, as well as the passage of the "Le Bouillonais" railway line. An electric turbine powered by a system of canals and ponds provided the energy needed for the workshops. The château is also a place steeped in history: it was home to the Dutch ambulance during the Battle of Sedan in 1870, and was the scene of executions during the Occupation, notably the murder of Resistance gendarme Jacques Wenzel on August 28, 1944, commemorated by a stele. Industrial activity came to an end in the early 20th century, between a devastating tornado in 1905 and a fire in 1908 that destroyed the spinning mill's annexes, leaving some forty workers unemployed. Acquired in 1961 by painter Lucien Ardenne, then in 2015 by Jérôme Counet and Jérôme Antoine, the château is now being restored.