If the town became a major centre of wine production in the first half of the 19th century, it was also a centre of small rural industries, with four windmills, two textile factories, a lime kiln, and the important mining of a peat bog which employed a large number of labourers. Peat Bogs in the commune were used particularly to supply several cognac distilleries in "Aigrefeuille" as wood, which was usually used in the "roasters", had become a rare commodity in "Aunis".