In the bocage hinterland, a few miles from the Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel, Villedieu-les-Poêles has a tradition of brassware and bell founders. The Fonderie Cornille-Havard perpetuates a bell-casting tradition that dates back to 1865. The core of a bell is made of bricks covered with a hotpot. It is a mixture of clay (to ensure solidity) bonded with goat hairs (or fibers) and horse manure (for porosity). The pot is made with local soil, and the dung comes from the neighboring fields.