Le Villaret

In around 1920, a baryte mine brought much-appreciated income to over 20 families. “Transport was by tractor carrying a crate that contained 2 tons of baryte and pulling a trailer that contained another four tons. That way, we transported 6 tons per trip to the train station at Génolhac, and, when all was going well, we did two trips per day, so a maximum of 500 tons a month” ( Aristide Vignes).

This hamlet was once very lively, since there was a school for a dozen children before World War Two. “It was basically a farmers' village. They weren't really looking to make money but to survive, in the tradition of farmers in the Cevennes. They lived according to the season: in summer, they prepared for winter. Chestnuts and potatoes were the staple foods, and there was soup at every meal” (Mr Velay).

A network of paths linked Le Massufret with the other hamlets in the municipality. A mule track lead from Montjoie to the Le Massufret (in Montjoie, you can see a circular platform, probably a vestige of an oppidum, a pre-Roman hill-fort). One path led through the valley to Soleyrols, another went to L'Aubaret on Mont Lozère or to Le Masmin, on the other side of the Ventalon ridge. At the time of the Camisards, after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685), Protestants chose to meet clandestinely, at night, in remote locations. Their gatherings had to kept secret from the authorities. Preachers replaced the exiled pastors and recited Biblical texts. Inhabitants from all four corners of the municipality held gatherings in Le Massufret near a rock below the apiary.