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Saint-Vallier (Municipality, Saône-et-Loire, France)

Flag of Saint-Vallier - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 11 June 2021

Presentation of Saint-Vallier
Flag of Saint-Vallier

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Presentation of Saint-Vallier

The municipality of Saint-Vallier (8,576 inhabitants in 2019; 2,431 ha) is located south of Montceau-les-Mines.

Saint-Vallier experienced economic and demographic boom during the first half of the 19th century due to coal mining. Société des Mines de Blanzy was established in 1833 by the industrialist Jules Chagot (1801-1877), who developed a wealthy business founded on paternalism and innovation. Deputy for the department of Saône-et-Loire (1863-1870), he supported the industrial revolution pushed by the Second Empire, and then "retired" as the mayor of Saint-Vallier from 1871 to his death. Chagot is credited the establishment and development of the new town of Montceau-les-Mines, which was established in 1856 from part of the municipalterritory of Saint-Vallier.
The housing estate of Les Gautherets was established in 1921 in Saint-Vallier, and, partially, in the neighboring municipality of Sanvignes-les-Mines, by the Société des Mines de Blanzy, to house Polish miners close to the Saint-Amédée shaft. Completed in 1926, the complex was composed of 560 dwellings housing more than 2,300. From 1938 to 1940, the number of dwellings was increased to 706, while another 52 dwellings were built from 1949 to 1951. Located quite far from the downtown, Les Gautherets experienced semi-autarcy, with its own schools, chapel, presbytery, dispensary, pharmacy, shops and cinema. Most buildings were designed by the architect Marcel Fournier (1889-1945). Born in Montceau-les-Mines, Fournier designed several buildings for the Société des Mines de Blanzy and his birth town, the war memorial included.
[Ministry of Culture]

Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 19 September 2021

Flag of Saint-Vallier

The flag of Saint-Vallier (photo) is white with the municipal coat of arms, "Gules a miner's lamp or a bordure argent eight bees or", including a red cartouche with the name of the municipality in yellow letters and a mural crown in black and white.
The miner's lamp recalls the mining past of the town. The bees are a generic symbol of collective work.

Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 19 September 2021