7 pillars of the former Camion-Devillez metal factory

Thanks to coal and iron ore in Wallonia’s soil, Belgium became a global industrial power in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Bouillon, too, had a strong metalworking industry. Evidence of this is found in the seven remaining iron pillars from the former Devillez-Camion factory at the Sépulcrines site.

Before the factory’s construction in 1903, the area was a wooded park designed by Victor Leroux (1808–1887), a pharmacist and artist who married a Bouillon local and fathered 15 children.

Bouillon had all the necessary resources for metallurgy: fast-flowing streams for energy, forests for charcoal, and iron ore from five local mines. In Les Hayons, a forge and foundry had existed since the 1500s. In 1786, Hubert Devillez added a rolling mill to form a true early-industrial operation.

From 1822, Devillez-Camion expanded throughout the city in small workshops before building a large factory in 1903 at the Sépulcrines. Other factories included Ferronnerie Bouillonnaise (FB) and Gérard & Didier (HGD), the latter still in small-scale operation.

The large DC factory was demolished in 1990. Its former site now hosts a park and event square.