Simply mentioned in the municipal land register of 1846, the date of construction of the octroi is not known...
Its role was to collect indirect taxes levied for the benefit of the communes on foodstuffs intended for local consumption, taxes which took the name of octroi.
Previously instituted by the Ancien Régime and collected for the benefit of the Royal Treasury, this tax was abolished during the Revolution (Constituent Assembly of 1791) and then reinstated in the VIIth and XIth years (1798-1803). It was then regulated by various decrees and laws under the Restoration (1814-1816), the Second Empire (1852-1867) and finally the Third Republic. It was definitively abolished in 1948 as part of the tax reform, but not without a quid pro quo, as local taxes, collected by local authorities, replaced octroi.
Dock dues were not intended to be prohibitive in nature, or to be too heavy a tax for the poorer classes to bear. However, surcharges could be applied to wealthier classes. Duties were voted by town councils on the following items: drinks and liquids (excluding so-called hygienic drinks), edibles, fuels, fodder, materials and miscellaneous items.
All items subject to duty had to be declared before being brought into the country by the carrier, builder or cart-owner, who had to produce supporting documents (permits, acquits, passavants or waybills, etc.) and then pay the duty. Any form of fraud gave rise to a fine and the confiscation of the objects transported as well as the means of transport.
Even if the evidence and certainties are lacking today, it is easy to imagine that the Pavillon was used to control and collect taxes on goods in transit. It was another time, a more distant time, a time when the sea was very close, the Port of Moricq was still active and the geography of the area was changing...
If you walk along the Canal des Bourrasses, you'll come across a charming pavilion that never tires of being reflected in the calm green waters of the marsh: the octroi pavilion.
