Bagneaux-sur-Loing

Balneolae and Baignaulx, the former names of Bagneaux, come from the Latin "balneum" which means a place associated with water or public bathing, no doubt because of its location on the banks of the Loing.

Bagneaux has always been a modest village where humble and hard-working peasants and workers lived: winegrowers, ploughmen, quarrymen, millers and glassmakers. The glass industry has been present in Bagneaux since 1753. Its establishment was facilitated by the proximity of forests for fuel, white sand quarries, containing 99% silica, and a navigable waterway, the Loing. This activity expanded throughout the 19th century. Bagneaux-sur-Loing became one of the main manufacturing centres in Europe, winning a gold medal at the Antwerp World Fair in 1885 and a diploma of honour the following year in Brussels. After manufacturing spectacle glass, the town specialised in Pyrex glass from 1922. Then in the 1990s, Corning France and Saint-Gobain merged and created Keraglass, launching the production of glass-ceramic cooktops. 

Although the great era of the glass industry is now behind us, Bagneaux remains an industrial village with a strong working class culture and a sense of solidarity.

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