La Manufacture Bohin

The Bohim company was established at Saint-Surplice-sur-Risle in Normandy in 1833, and manufactured needles, safety pins and pins with coloured glass heads. It played a significant role in the lace-making industry in the region. From 1860 manufacturing was concentrated in a 24-bay, three-storey main building which was rebuilt in 1880 and listed as historical monument in 1995. It originally including a forge, a wire-drawing ship and workshops for the production of needles and pins. A museum, demanded by the workers when the factory was recognised as a heritage site, now occupies two storeys of a former warehouse. It includes some nineteenth-century machines and has nine principal themes, including the industrial context in Normandy, the valley of the River Risle, the Bohim Company, the workers at Saint-Surplice-sur-Risle, and the varied products they made. Manufacturing continues on other parts of the site.