Museum of Braids and Laces

La Terrasse-sur-Dorlay lies in the valleys of the rivers Gier and Dorlay, and was the principal centre in France for the manufacture of laces (as used in shoes or corsets) and braids. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries this was a domestic industry, but from the 1880s it came under the control of three large companies who concentrated production in factories.

The museum is located in the factory opened by Richard Chambovet (1772-1851) in 1807, originally for the production of decorative lace and ribbons, and then used to make laces for shoes and corsets. In the late nineteenth century, under the management of his sons, it had 300 employees. The museum displays examples of historic machines associated with the manufacture of braids and laces including a braiding machine of the type invested in Manchester in 1748 by Thomas Waldford, and the later lace machine developed by Bockmull of Barmen. Visitors can also see the 6 m diameter water wheel from which the factory originally drew its power. The museum also displays a great variety of sample fabrics.