History

The Mill is still present, in the late 18th century on the “Cassini map”, France’s first precise map of its territory, along with an “Oustal en ruines”, or “old Inn in bad state”. Between 1780 and 1820, a stranger to the village, M. Moustelon invested heavily in the Mill (addition of an extra mill) and completely restored the old Mansion which he and his family occupied until 1870. The Moustelon family frequently served as Mayors of Vieussan, as did the many Boissezon families. He sold the Mill for 2.000 gold francs to a Boissezon in 1870, and there are a few exotic anecdotes about how this Boissezon found in the river a coffer full of gold coins that enabled him to purchase the largest property in the village. After almost a century, the place was purchased by a British family who used it mostly for family vacations, and enriched the garden with quite a few original trees and bushes.

The village of Vieussan

The old fortified village of Vieussan dates probably back to the 12th to 15th century. Due to the violence of the river, no solid bridge could really stand until the first suspension bridges were created in the early 1900’s, which explains the long isolation of most hamlets living very much in autarky. You will find along the rivers many steel wires and winches used to ferry across the river all kinds of goods and people. At its demographic peak under the Napoleon wars, it counted almost 400 souls and 4 to 5 cafés. Its people lived mostly of the local agriculture, based on vegetables, some wheat, wine and chestnuts provided the complement to the scarce food. The village itself counts today quite a few neatly restored houses, mostly owned by fond amateurs eager to maintain and preserve its medieval character.

The Cathar Land
Long before Reformation, the first big challenge to the power of the Roman Catholic Church emerged in the 11th century in southern France. It was carried by a group of men who preached a more spiritual and ascetic approach to life “the Cathars”. The Church organised the first crusades to crush this threat, and herds of northern France soldiers and knights plundered and destroyed the rich civilisation in multiples waves of severe brutality over more than 100 years. All main historical sites and the famous castles of Montsegur, Quéribus, Puylaurens, Lastours, Peyrepertuse and Minerve are today silent remains of the end of that rich and peaceful civilisation. They can all be reached within 2 to 3 hours drive from the Mill..