The Old Mill of Vernon

The old mill of Vernon, a half-timbered construction, lies straddling two piers of the ancient bridge over the Seine River. Several mills like this one used to be operating on the river all along the old wooden bridge. This bridge itself was built in the 12th century, the mill is probably in the 16th century. The old bridge has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in the middle age. It was very unsafe and was definitively detroyed in the beginning of the 19th century. Then it was replaced by a stone bridge in 1861.

Destroyed during the war in 1870 it was rebuilt in 1872 and then bombed in 1940. So the bridge you cross today to go from Vernon to Giverny is the fourth generation. It was built in 1955. The mechanism used to be a pending wheel like Saint Jean mill, a nearby mill now destroyed, or like the mill of Muids. Between 1925 and 1930, the old mill belonged to a revue spectacular composer, Jean Nouguès, who managed a dancing on a barge moored nearby. In 1930 he sold it to an American, William Griffin.

After the death of William Griffin in 1947 the city of Vernon tried to find his heirs but did not succeed. The mill was damaged by the bombings of 1940 and 1944. It was about to fall into the Seine River when the city of Vernon undertook its salvage. Now the old mill is a symbol of Vernon. It has been represented thousands of times by painters, even by Claude Monet.

References:

• giverny.org

Address

Impasse de la Chaussée, Vernon, France

Details

Founded: 16th century
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in France