MOULIN DU SALSON

Built in 1790, this mill was built and used by several owners of the Salson. It was the most important mill in the valley, built in an ingenious way: thanks to a carefully designed water circuit, it could run several millstones at the same time.

The millstone was used to make gruel (crushed cereal grains without bran), while another crushed rye or buckwheat to make flour, and yet another crushed walnut kernels to make oil.

In another building, pieces of cadis (woollen cloth) were crushed, while water from the stream (the Gardon d?Alès) was captured and held in a gourgue (water reservoir) to drive the mill?s horizontal wheels.

On its way out, the water was channeled into béals. A 2 km-long béal irrigated meadows and chestnut groves right up to the hamlet of Le Grenier.