From people of the sea to people of the land

Throughout the 18th century, the population of Talmont, which still depended on a modest fishing trade, found new opportunities in the trade vessels that came down the Gironde. An increasing number of merchants and traders set up shop among the sailors, deckhands and day labourers of the village. Business flourished in Talmont and, by the end of the 18th century, ship captains and even the occasional wealthy shipowner were rubbing shoulders with the village folk, fishermen, and merchant seamen.

It was during this time that the village undertook the major task of draining the marshes, allowing for the development of livestock farming and other agricultural activities. Farms were built in the lowlands of the Roche du Caillaud. By the early 19th century, the land was occupied by cultivated fields and several windmills.

Today, as is also the case in Médoc on the other side of the estuary, vineyards dominate the fields atop the limestone cliff face, the perfect symbol of a town born from land and sea.