The Fascinating History of Silk Production in the Cévennes


Deep in the Cévennes mountains, in the Gard, a little known yet thriving industry developed in the 19th century: silk-spinning.
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When Robert Louis Stevenson arrived at Saint-Jean-du-Gard on 2nd October 1878, completing the pioneering journey immortalised in his Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, and which can now be followed along the wonderful GR70 hiking route, he was focused on selling his faithful beast, and making haste to Alès.
Although not mentioned in his book, this astute observer of people and places would certainly have noted, as he negotiated a fair price for his donkey, Modestine, that this small Cévenole town was buzzing. By the mid-19th century, Saint-Jean-du-Gard was one of the most important centres for French silk production and spinning, with some 23 workshops. It was also the first to adopt Joseph Gensoul’s 1805 invention using steam to speed up the extraction of silk thread from cocoons.

Pulling thread from cocoons © Maison Rouge
Silk production in France
Silk production and spinning, and later weaving, had been a major activity across the Cévennes since the 13th Century. Encouraged by kings, many homes had mulberry trees and raised silkworms; this was known as élevage as the caterpillars required so much attention. In 1466, Louis XI established a national silk industry in nearby Lyon, with the city later being granted control over silk production. Lyon also saw the development in 1804 of the Jacquard ‘head’, the punched card automated device that revolutionised patterned weaving.
It was French Protestant Huguenots who became the real experts in silk weaving. Fleeing religious persecution by the Catholic monarchy, especially after the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV, they sought refuge in, among other places, London. Their skills, poetically termed ‘the mysteries of the strangers’, led to a thriving English silk industry, initially in London, then spreading out into Suffolk and around Macclesfield.
Although commercial silk production in the Cévennes had closed down by 1965, small artisan workshops have sprung up and are keeping the ancestral savoir-faire alive.
Thanks to two thriving museums, there is still plenty for the visitor to discover about the fascinating story of silk production in the Cévennes, and its links with the Wars of Religion and protestant resistance.

Maison Rouge © Maison Rouge
Maison Rouge
The Maison Rouge silk spinning mill in Saint-Jean-du-Gard, built in 1833, now hosts the Musée des Vallées Cévenoles (Museum of the Cévennes valleys).
In addition to displays of the machinery and techniques used for silk production and spinning, the permanent collection includes a number of very intriguing items.
Once laid, silkworm eggs required incubation in order to hatch. Women carried the eggs in small bags called nouets under their petticoats and bodices. From the late 18th Century, they also employed a device known as the Castellet (little castle). Exhibited at the Maison Rouge, this small tin container had double-walls filled with water, and the eggs were kept at the ideal temperature of 23°C using an ethanol-fuelled lamp.

The Castellet © Maison Rouge
A Huguenot mirror reminds visitors not only of the important part played by the protestant community in silk production, but also of their constant fear of discovery and persecution. Indeed, the back of this item has a small, secret compartment for holding prohibited religious texts!

A Huguenot mirror © Maison Rouge
Musée de la Soie
The second of the two silk museums, at Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort, is just under 30 kilometres and around 30 minutes by road south of the Maison Rouge. Here, in another centre of the Cévenole silk story, the Musée de la Soie (Museum of silk) offers more fascinating insights.
What’s more, you can even buy grains (silkworm eggs), and with support from museum staff, observe the whole cycle ‘from birth of the silkworms, through spinning of cocoons, to metamorphosis into moths’. But you will need a mulberry tree!
As at Maison Rouge, there are tours (including guided) for individuals, groups, and schools, workshops adapted to children’s ages, and a well-illustrated brochure describing four silk heritage walks in the area that can be downloaded.
Pasteur to the rescue
In the mid-19th century, French silk production in the area was hit by two diseases of silkworms, the most important being Pébrine, caused by a fungus. This virtually destroyed the industry, as infected pupae were unable to spin silk.
In 1865, the manufacturers asked Louis Pasteur to investigate and look for a solution to this devastating infection. He spent time in and around Alès with his microscope, working up a method to separate infected and uninfected eggs, which more or less solved the problem.

Portrait of scientist Louis Pasteur, France, 1902 © Alamy
This was all happening around the time of Stevenson’s journey, and it is perhaps surprising he elected not to comment on such important economic and social events. But the Cévennes, and the Protestants whose history brought him there, played a central part in the story of French silk, as well as for its manufacture in England and other countries where Huguenots sought refuge.
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More in Artisan Crafts, artisans, Cévennes, Gard, GR, hiking, silk, silk industry, Stevenson Trail
By Nigel Bruce
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