Ecluse de la Roussille (Niort)

From the Poitevin word "roussea" meaning both red and brook, La Roussille is the place where the redheads, that is to say the rushes, grow.
Its lock was installed in 1394 by Duke Jean de Berry, Count of Poitou, to retain the waters of the Sèvre Niortaise in the canal and the Niort basin. It is the largest of the eight locks from Niort to Marans (Charente-Maritime) and one of the first locks in France. The date of 1808 is engraved in the stone of the former post of the locksmith to recall the passage to Niort of Napoleon 1st who regulated by decree navigation on the river.
As an extension of the current restaurant, the former barn of the lock house housed the horse used on the tow road to pull the jigs over the small coastal river.