1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Le Chambon

LE CHAMBON, or Le Chambon-Feugerolles, a town of east-central France in the department of Loire, 71/2 m. S.W. of St Étienne by rail, on the Ondaine, a tributary of the Loire. Pop. (1906) town, 7525; commune, 12,011. Coal is mined in the neighbourhood, and there are forges, steel works, manufactures of tools and other iron goods, and silk mills. The feudal castle of Feugerolles on a hill to the south-east dates in part from the 11th century.

Between Le Chambon and St Étienne is La Ricamarie (pop. of town 5289) also of importance for its coal-mines. Many of the galleries of a number of these mines are on fire, probably from spontaneous combustion. According to popular tradition these fires date from the time of the Saracens; more authentically from the 15th century.