In 1655, Josse Van Robais founded a factory producing fine cloth in Abbeville, in the Hocquet district. He had been commissioned by Colbert and the contract contained an exclusivity agreement that was to suit the Dutch manufacturer admirably - to the extent that, by the time his grandson, Abraham, took over, the factory employed 2,500 people in a building erected between 1709 and 1713, whose main entrance and a dovecote are still visible today.