This 18th-century fountain, located in the public square, was listed on the Inventaire Supplémentaire des Monuments Historiques (Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments) on 1 February 1929.
Although plans for the construction of this fountain date back to 1832, it was not actually built until 1836 to the designs of the Langrois architect Onésime Luquet. According to the specifications, it was to consist of a circular basin surrounded by paving and was to have a figure, to be defined by the architect, throwing water on a plinth at its centre. Today, the fountain's "Peûte Bête", dominated by the neighbouring church and seemingly fearful of the St George of the cemetery chapel, remains a telling image of the triumph of Christianity over paganism and the demons of our land. An image no doubt deliberately chosen by the fountain's architect, who was an archaeology enthusiast... and who would later become bishop of Langres.
Extract from the legend:
"... One day, there were fewer wolves, at first people didn't know why, but soon they realised that there were worse things to come and that a fabulous animal, coming from who knows where and until then invisible, was frightening them. They had been devoured or had fled to other climes. So they trembled even more, because they didn't know what kind of monster they were dealing with. Sometimes it roared in the woods of Forment, sometimes in the woods of Maigre-Fontaine, sometimes as far as Mont Moyen, sometimes in the gorges of the Vingeanne, sometimes on Mont Armet and even in the Val des Frais... However, the creaking in the forests and the roars themselves were not the worst of it. The most frightening was the snoring heard in the air, as the beast flew as well as walked... The bones of a calf could be seen in a meadow, and a young girl was found dead on a path, having suffered all manner of outrages. The beast was greedy for fresh flesh, and delighted in that of men and even more in that of women... Isolated farms, La Salle, La Thuillière, Servin, La Dhuis and others were in constant fear of it...".
Fontaine de la « Peûte Bête » d'Aujeurres
