Barjols

Barjols lies among the springs and streams of inland Provence. Its waters fed fountains and mills, and tanners were already working here in the fifteenth century. In 1608 Henry IV granted privileges to a man named Vaillant to establish a tannery processing hides from local flocks and the Alpine foothills. Oak bark supplied the tannin used to turn the skins into leather, giving the town a craft closely tied to its waters and woods.