The Haut-Chantier, from ancient times, may have been a place of traffic. The « chantiers » form higher points on the banks resulting from the combined action of the currents and river sedimentation and forming real natural quays. Here, goods were loaded and unloaded, boats were built and repaired around a few houses.
In the 18th century, on the edges of the Loire, the Haut-Chantier was at the height of its activity. Its grouping of water carriers made it one of the rare villages of bargemen in Touraine.
In the port, about thirty boats were moored during the summer. In the notarial archives, we can note, for example, several trains of boats belonging to the master mariners of Limeray.
The Loire bargemen were nicknamed « les chie-dans-l’iau », as opposed to « les culs-terreux ». Or « les traîne-bâtons » (the stick-draggers), in relation to the blunder that was used to steer their boats. With the decline of the inland waterways, they became farmers or winegrowers.