The Moulin de Vernègues dates back to the early 13th century. At that time, it was the largest wheat mill in the Vernègues seigneury, which itself belonged to the Archbishops of Arles. The remains of this period are buried beneath the present-day rotisserie. In addition to the underground river, rooms, corridors and a curious round tower (under the fountain) have been found, the only access, according to legend, to an underground passage that linked the Moulin to the Château des Taillades, a former Templar commandery.

Passionate controversy has fuelled the hypothesis that a treasure could be buried beneath these rooms for centuries, and even today... Gradually, a large "seigneurial" house was built over these rooms, the vaults of which have now been restored. In 1400, this house became the property of the Damian family, who received the Seigneury of Vernègues from the King of France, before those of Foix and Pamiers in 1768.This family was allied to the greatest families of Provence, and its coat of arms is reproduced on the central casing of the Salle de la Roue. King René, Duke of Anjou, came to hunt on these lands and indulge in noble feasting... The Pont d'Anjou was then built, and its arch still guards the entrance to the royal road. In 1560, the Marquis de Sade married Anne de Damian.

A century later, when it was known as Bastide St Louis, the house passed into the hands of the Carthusian monks of Bompas, whose emblem is engraved on the pediment of the fountain and repeated on the mantelpiece of the Grand Salon.

The fathers lived there peacefully, distilling aromatic plants and making a scented elixir... The French Revolution put an end to this tranquillity. The Moulin was sold as ecclesiastical property and parceled out, after which it became a coaching inn, its main courtyard echoing under the hoofs of hurrying horses.

Several families have since taken over the Moulin de Vernègues, all of them enamoured of its charm, and have endeavoured to save its history-laden walls from ruin.