quarry and ovens The limestone plateau of Joué du Plain, on the Southern edge of Écouché, is rich in Jurassic deposits used for making mortar, and has been quarried for a very long time. It is known that the Romans used mortar as a building material, and spread it beneath the paving of their roadways. The same process is used today to protect motorways from frost. Five hundred years ago, lime was made by masons in small upright ovens situated either near the quarry or close to the building site, after transporting the limestone rocks and kindling there. Crushed limestone rocks and firewood were laid in alternate layers so as to facilitate calcination of the stones, and obtain an oxyde of calcium. The ovens were about ten metres high and, not resisting the heat, could be used only once. Some farmers used the same method at the beginning of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 18th century permanent mortar ovens appeared in Ecouché, operated by professional owners. These ovoid ovens, without chimneys, were manually dug out of the rock in batteries of five or six ovens, beside the quarry. They were equipped with a mouth for loading, about 1.20 metres (4 ft)in diameter, and with another mouth for unloading of between 0.40 and 0.70 metres (1 ft 6 inches and 2 ft. 4 inches) in diameter. A statue of the Virgin Mary placed in a niche looked over each batch of ovens. It became recognised during the 19th century that lime was also beneficial for restoring agricultural soils, and production of it was increased. In his almanach of 1842, L.J. Chrétien cites the case of Monsieur de Cénival, who more than doubled his crop production owing to liming. The ovoid ovens were improved with the addition of chimneys, and later by the use of refractory bricks which extended their life to twenty years without need for rebuilding. In 1930 a new plant was installed at La Répicherie, not far from the railway station – for now production was being transported to destinations further and further away. Each oven could produce 25 tons per day in continuous production, or 16 to 17 tons per effective working day of 10 hours. The limestone was quarried from a face of 200 metres and rocks were transported to the plant in aerial buckets suspended from cables 1,200 metres long, like those used