Of glass ovens and mines Part 2 : Not one, but two ovens

 

Sand castles…

More than a year ago, a local of the region informed us that he had discovered what he thought was a glass oven. Upon inspection, it was confirmed that this was indeed the case. The discovery proved that which had previously been a theory: that glass had been produced locally. The state of the installation also revealed its general age. Since its discovery, several people from the local community, including the mayor, have repeatedly asked from its discoverer that he reveals its whereabouts. t underlines that no-one was aware of its existence or its location. Still, this request for information is remarkable as they occurred at a time when the mayor “accused” us (using not legal means, but instead grapevine communications) of constructing sand castles… and yet sand is the key basic ingredient to make glass! And of course, Opoul has many vineyards too!

Working with glass

We have returned to the site of the first glass oven on numerous occasions since its discovery, largely to draw a detailed plan of its appearance, its location and its surroundings. We also took a closer look at the waste products that had been thrown out of the oven by its operators. This is material that either did not turn to glass, or material that was there to heat the oven. When we broke some of it, we discovered that inside, there were actually still traces of gold in it. Of course, no-one will buy a yacht in Monaco with what remains, but it would be remarkable if the gold was not observed by the workmen… if so, their work may have been deemed to be more important than the gold they “wasted”.
It is seldom that a glass making installation only has one oven. Normally, there are a number of such ovens, in which the process of making glass is broken down into its several stages: one oven will for example not have the same heat as the main oven, but will be used for the slow “cooling off” process of the finished product, which needs to be regulated. Finally, there should be an area where the finished products are stored, as well as where certain salts are stored which will provide a specific tint of colour to the glass – if desired or required.

One… two…

Luck was once again on the side of our research. One of our members, while searching for mushrooms, stumbled upon the remains of what looked like a small building, near the area where we had located the first glass oven.
Generally speaking, the site is just a stack of stones, all identical in colour and dimensions. The part of the oven that would be the ceiling has collapsed on its own. As a result, there are several major differences between the state of this oven and the first oven. To begin with, there is no conduit, showing that the intake of air was differently organised than in the first oven. Furthermore, we note that the thickness of the wall on the northern site is more than what should be expected and the other sides of the structure. Perhaps this type of isolation was indeed to protect the oven from the cold winds or rains that come from the north. Nevertheless, the first oven is exposed to the same elements and its width is consistent throughout the entire structure. Finally, in the second oven, we find within what we believe to be the “heating bell”, a layer of burnt sand, turned into glass, which is present only in certain areas and which is of such a small thickness that it is easy not to notice.

Is it or is it not an oven?

It appears that this oven, for reasons unknown, was destroyed or collapsed, after having seen little use and with a type of conduit that is out of the ordinary. When the undergrowth was cleared, it became clear that the heating bell had an unusual height in comparison to the first discovery.
It required several attempts to comprehend and to “virtually recompose” the installation before a possible and perhaps even likely scenario developed. Indeed, it is impossible that we are on the site of a second glass oven – a conventional oven that is. It is however possible that it was a cooling off “silo”, which is required; the glass needs to cool off gently, and for this, of course, it requires heat to be present, so that the process of coming from a very high to a cold temperature, can be controlled. The fact that the northern side of the structure is thicker could thus be explained, as the northern side is the coldest and hence most insulation is required there. It would also explain the absence of a conduit, for the temperature inside this facility does not need to mount to the extreme temperatures that are required in the primary oven.

One glass activity can hide another

The ensemble of the two sites is therefore clearly part of the glass production in Perillos. Certain of the other tumuli visible in the area could potentially be other ovens, as well as the remains of the buildings or structures where the material was placed in storage. But one important question remains. The site is far removed from any route of any importance and it is logical to assume that such a site of industry is located in an easily or relatively easily accessible site. The required ingredients, such as sand, need to brought to the site, and the finished objects need to be removed. Sp why chose this location?
Of course, such a desolate site could have been chosen because under the cover of a normal glass oven, certain other activities were “hidden”. That the chosen site is remote is best illustrated by the fact that the local authorities do not know its location, possess not a single archive or can not even rely on the memories of the population to retrace it.

The shadow of the lords of Perillos

Today, and only since very recently, we can talk about the lords of Perillos as having a direct relationship with this site. Indeed, after further careful removal of bushes and shrubs that had grown on top of the first glass oven, an important discovery was made. Amidst the various stones that lie in and around the “mouth” of the first oven, an intriguing stone seemed to belong to “the owner”. It is deserving of this title, for it carries a careful engraving, showing a simple blazon of the Perillos, the date 1501, with another, more recent date, 1654, as well as the engraving of a cross on a small circle. The stone is so bizarre to be located amongst this rubble that it is definitely an out of place artefact.
To begin with, this is a basic, simple industrial site. In contrast, this stone is ornate and furthermore old. It is also not clear what this particular stone was doing here. Was it part of the oven? If so, where precisely did it sit? Was it brought here from elsewhere? If so, from where… and when?

Problems

If native to the site (which is for the moment the most logical conclusion, even though it does not come without its questions), then the stone is indeed a type of “identifier”, providing more detail as to who the owner of the installation is, as well as further information. In this case, it would suggest that the lords of Perillos were the owners of the glass oven. We are not in the immediate vicinity of the village, though still on the territory, so such identification would be useful, in case there was any confusion with visitors, travellers… or thieves.
At the same time, the date is problematic, as 1501 would postdate the ownership of the “genuine” Perillos family. Indeed, this is an anomaly, but it is clear that this is what the stone says, and it is thus the historical evidence with which we are confronted. Perhaps the stone was therefore even older than 1501 (less than a century before, the lands were still in the property of the Perillos family) and was reused in 1501? Or the stone does indeed date to 1501 and identified its link with Perillos, rather than the Perillos family? For let us note that even today, some use the Perillos family’s blazon to identify the village.
Another scenario would suggest that the site once had a construction belonging to the Perillos family, which was later transformed into a glass oven, at which date an existing stone was adjusted, to include a date. All of these are possible historical scenarios…

Red gold

Let us return to a previous observation, which is that on this site, there were some stones that clearly showed gold contents within them. We should note that gold was an ingredient for certain glasses, specifically for red-coloured glass. The specific process how to accomplish this type of stained glass was a trade secret of the master glaziers, who jealously kept that secret within their ranks. But we should note that as this process used gold, it is of course not an everyday ingredient and was reserved for extremely special occasions, such as the glass that was used for the windows of cathedrals. It would be practically impossible to find a production site of red stained glass in Perillos, and hence only list it here as a possible, though unlikely, hypothesis.

A final solution?

A final solution remains. This would be the utilisation of an oven that would operate at high temperature, like that required to make glass, but for another purpose, such as working with gold. This may not seem as bizarre as it sounds. The Perillos family was rich and gold was a precious material – the most precious material. No doubt, the Perillos family possessed gold and must have stored it somewhere. Working with gold was always discretionary and best not spoken too loudly off. So perhaps this was indeed a glass oven, but which was equally used to work with gold, however seldom?

One technique is to recast the precious metal into a different shape. For example, a famous case involves how all the gold from the Incas was melted down and thus readied for transport back to Spain (whereby the armada was captured by Englishmen, whose boat later sank). We have seen the example, near Rennes-le-Château, of people re-melting gold so that it would acquire a lesser gold standard. Another possibility is that gold mineral was used as the starting point and that gold objects were produced from there.
Another possibility is that the lords of Perillos – or someone else – were “forced” to melt down and “convert” their gold stock. If so, then it would assume that there was an important reason to do so, as normally, someone’s gold possession remains in the state it is in. Of course, there is the possibility that they somehow had gotten their hands on gold that in origin did not belong to them and that was required to be re-melted, so that is true origin was “lost”.
At present, working with the mineral is, of these three possibilities, the most likely and rational. For this to work, the primary material would have to be carried to the oven. Of course, this would require once again a system of easy access, which we know was not available. Which leaves one possibility: that there was a site where gold ore was located, where it was mined and from which it was transported to a nearby oven. And that would make the otherwise impractical location of the installation suddenly very logical.

Silence: do not awaken the mines

Some years ago, we went to the mayor’s office of Opoul, asking whether they had any information about mines and mining activity in Opoul-Perillos. The staff was stern: “no.” The then mayor came out of his office, greeted us and stated that he was a child of the region, knew it like the back of his hand. If there was a mine, he would have known, his office would know, the archives would mention it and the old people of the abandoned village would remember it. But all those points of verification were negative.
We did not know whether we were given the cold shoulder or whether indeed no-one knew anything about the mines. Fortunately, we did not come unprepared, for the next day we returned, carrying with us not one but two documents which conclusively showed that there were – or at least had been – mines. One piece of evidence was a map of the area, showing the location of the mines and an “arrest” from the Prefecture, which gave permission to exploit the mines.
We note that this information is readily available and for consultation in the departmental archives… and we note that the French state is in this case neither a secret society nor a falsifier of such evidence. Indeed, at our initial visit to the mayor’s office on the topic of mines, we were stunned to find that no-one had apparently taken the effort to consult the departmental archives. The only necessary ingredient which we had above some other researchers, was a conviction, if not a nose, that there were indeed mines in the region… an idea which we wanted to test with reality, and which came up as positive.

Discovered ovens next to unknown mines

For ten sometimes long years, we searched the width and length of Perillos, as much as we could, for mines. And it was once again thanks to the efforts of a member of our organisation and his stubbornness that we finally were able to locate a mine. Indeed, some will question how we ever located the two tombs, for this mine is indeed located on the map which we had in our possession and yet we did not discover it. As with so many things, fortune needs to be on one’s side. Still, the discovery means that the map is factual… in case anyone doubted that. In brief, we could say that the distance between the ovens and the mine is short and was connected by old roads that today are totally abandoned and which have disappeared… though portions of these are still visible underneath the shrubs if one looks for them.
This shows that the lords of the region extracted a mineral that was native to the region and apparently used foreign specialists (material in our possession suggests that the master craftsmen employed for this were Jewish) which were also kept apart and away from the local people… or perhaps did not wish to mingle with them.

We have only made the briefest of visits to this old mine, but there can be no doubt that this was indeed a mine. An opening of more than four metres opens into a hole that goes down to a depth of more than five metres. The bottom of this opening leads into a gallery that slowly descends. At the entry there are still old tools and shorings, made up from enormous beams made into corbels, which are specific tools required for mining activity.

Location, location, location

The only thing that is left for us to do, is to point out where the glass oven is located. The revelation of this site might seem premature, and contrary to what we normally do, because silence is known to guarantee the preservation of sites, especially when it comes to the wild hoards of “researchers” that make up the body of Rennes-le-Chateau enthusiasts.
However, in order that scientists are able to investigate and inspect this glass oven properly, we have to, of course, reveal its precise location, so that they are able to go there. No doubt their detailed study will lead to several interesting insights into the lives of the workers and the work they did on site, far beyond the meagre contributions we have been able to make on the subject so far.

Let us therefore, as a final farewell of an amateur, before he will be confronted with the opinion of the experts, add some of our final observations. First, that the type of oven is one for making bottles or flasks, and that no other types of glass were produced here, as these products would require a more sophisticated installation, which cannot correspond to the ruins that are visible in this location.
The details of the motte correspond to the “French model”, even though in theory, its ruin could be seen to correspond to the so-called “English hut”, but if the latter were the case, its dimensions would have been extremely reduced, making this conclusion therefore unlikely.

Second, even though the location of the main oven is found, where the glass was reheated and cooled down, as well as the location where the master glassmaker did all of his other work to the glass, remains to be identified. Most of the finer work and storage was normally done in a building with a roof, not in the open air, and this makes the presence of such a structure that would be fit for this purpose likely – yet hard to find on the ground.
Third, such installations are seldom unique; a number of ovens were built, so that a steady supply of glass could be produced; very much like hairdressers have more than one basin, nuclear power stations more than one reactor, etc. And since the discovery of this first oven, we have found two other locations in the general vicinity that definitely could be qualified as “secondary ovens”, though, of course, as no excavation has occurred, an excavation might reveal that what today is visible on the ground, is but a small aspect of a much larger installation. But this is unlikely.
Let us note that the presence of three ovens is quite often standard, and conforms to e.g. the glass ovens that are present at la Sals, above Rennes-les-Bains, even though the type of installation there is different than for Perillos. Furthermore, let us note that there are indications that there are other communities of glassmakers on the other side of the mountain, in Embres and Castelmaure, where the work was carried out by people of Jewish origin.

Finally, the only thing that we are left to do, is to present a map of the site, as well as its GPS coordinates:

André Douzet