Gincla is mentioned from the beginning of the XIVth siècle
century as a hamlet of Puilaurens (modern spelling Puilaurens).
The local industries were food-production, apple growing, cereals (because of their keeping qualities) and foodstuff for cattle raising ; the nearby forests provided firewood and later charcoal for ironworking.
The ironworks brought prosperity to Gincla especially at the beginning of the XVIIIth century. This was due to the following :
- presence of rich iron ore in the neighborhood,
- water power provided by the river Boulzane
- and the charcoal as fuel.
The ironworks produced canonballs, iron strips, files etc. The invention of blast-furnaces which using coke and producing better quality iron, was a deathblow to ironworks of Gincla.
On the other hand, the sawmills, which benefited from the same local conditions, came into existence after the ironworks, and disapeared a few years before first World War.
In 1816, Jacques Rivals-Gincla built the cenotaph in memory of his mother, Marie Suzanne de Cambon, who died at the age of 41. One can still read the inscription, attributed to the french poet
André Chénier : « On remplace un ami, une épouse, une amante. Mais une mère est un bien précieux qu’on reçoit une fois, par la bonté des cieux ». (One can replace a friend, a wife or a lover, but a mother is a precious gift that Heaven’s goodness offers us at one time).
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