Dolmen du Château de Pierrefitte

Trip No.204  Entry No.298  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 10th Aug 2005

Log Text: It's difficult to get to see this dolmen, as it resides in the grounds of a big private chateau, and cannot be visited. However I was just able to catch a glimpse of it from the front gate of the house. It is in the parkland at the east side, with trees around it. It looks a nice tidy dolmen with capstone still in place.

La Grotte aux Fées

Trip No.204  Entry No.299  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This fine dolmen can be found just to the north of the village of Mettray. Follow the road beside the sports stadium along the railway line for about a kilometre, and it is in a bunch of trees across a field to the right, down a little track and with a parking area. It's a large monumentwith a main chamber about 10 metres long by4 metres wide, with three large capstones sitting on top of three side slabs each side, and a single large backstone. The central capstone is massive, and is almost 2 metres thick on the south side. The chamber faces almost due east at 095°, and there is one stone standing, and one fallen stone in place of what is most likely an Angevin porchway. At the back of the first set of stones, there is an internal stone dividing the chamber into two parts, as is often the case with these large chambers. It is a shame, but as is often the case with these nocely presented dolmens, it is much abused, and suffers from the usual collection of broken beer bottles, graffitti(lots of heavy metal stuff in this case) and bonfires, one of which has obviously been lit inside the entry chamber and made a horrible mess. Just what is up with these people ? Although the double ring of trees around the dolmen make for a nice shady area, they do prevent decent photographs from being taken.

Pierre du Pont-Champion

Trip No.204  Entry No.300  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This three metre tall menhir lives in a field guarded by cows, just to the south of the busy D.766 road a few kilometres west of the village of Beaumont-la-Ronce. There is a parking area nearby, and its just 100 metres walk along the edge of the field to the menhir. There are several other large lumps of stone around.

Dolmen de la Haute Barde

Trip No.204  Entry No.301  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Couldn't find on 11th Aug 2005

Log Text: This dolmen is either in dense woodland, or else on private property for the large chateau, as I can find no sign of it anywhere.

Dolmen de Marcilly

Trip No.204  Entry No.302  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: This was not an easy dolmen to get to, as my campervan wouldn’t go under a low railway bridge, and hence I had a walk of over a kilometre. It's hard to explain, but once under the railway I just followed the field edges hoping to see something, and there it was, beyond a copse and a pond.

The dolmen is a fairly simple thing, with a single capstone sat on top of three support stones, making a rectangular chamber of 3m by 2.5m. Whether there was ever any more to it or not I don't know. It's all leaning a bit these days, and sat on a little mound. Nice. I thought I wouldn't get this one.

Pierre Levée (La Grange)

Trip No.204  Entry No.303  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a large upright slab, 3.5 metres high and 3 metres wide, in a field overlooking a stream. Beside it are a few more large slabs, but they don’t look like they have broken off the top, although it is possible. It's a lovely limestone sort of slab, and looks like holes have been drilled into it in places, perhaps in an attempt to break it up.

I only found this at the second attempt, along the track from near La Grange farm from the west, after completely failing to even find the track from the east by the railway bridge, as fishing ponds have been made all along the valley.

Gobiane Menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.304  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 2

Log Text: This was a difficult one to find. Halfway between the villages of Flée and Chahaignes is a track south from the D.255 road up to Gobianne farm. I parked and walked up the track for at least 800 metres, and eventually I saw the menhir in a field up on the hillside. The field is well ditched, fenced and hedged, and there was no way in. The best I got was a long distance photo.

Its a big menhir, I would estimate over 4 metres tall. When you know where it is, it can actually be seen from the road, up on the skyline to the south at the top of the hill. Nice.

Now I can see the ign 1:25,000 map, there is another menhir nearby, much nearer to the road about half a kilometre to the northwest of the Gobianne menhir.

Menhir des Ventes

Trip No.204  Entry No.305  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Couldn't find on 11th Aug 2005

Log Text: Now I can see the ign 1:25,000 map, there is another menhir nearby, much nearer to the road about half a kilometre to the northwest of the Gobianne menhir.

Dolmen dit Pierre Couverte de Vaas

Trip No.204  Entry No.306  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Couldn't find on 11th Aug 2005

Log Text: I saw something that stated that this dolmen is supposedly on an island in the middle of the Loir river somewhere. I could find no sign for it, and it wasn't on my map, so didn’t try too hard. But there is marked on my maps a dolmen up in the forested hills to the north of the village, which is a fair old walk from anywhere.

Amenon Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.307  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: The Amenon dolmen is fairly easy to find, along the little roadsouth of the river Loir between Vaas and La Chapelle-aux-Choux. Just after the little stream, the dolmen remains can be found up a trackway, and can be seen from the road. There is a little plaque explaining that it is the remains of an Angevin type Allee Couverte, which is a good thing as I would never have known that, as most of the dolmen has been destroyed in the past with having the trackway built right through it.

It was excavated in the 1970s and is now protected, but perhaps just a little too late ! The remains now are a single capstone sitting defiantly on two side supports about 1.5 metres apart, and lots of other stones in piles around it.

La Pierre Couverte de la Planche

Trip No.204  Entry No.308  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the west of Broc, along the D.138 road towards Chigné, an after about 800 metres this dolmen can be seen in the middle of the field to the north. I went to Broc hoping for a map, but saw nothing, so was lucky to find this. The dolmen is left in a little unploughed area which has recently been cleared of undergrowth and bushes, but it is also unfortunately used for field clearance stones.

There is a single capstone, 2.5 metres roundish shape, sitting on top of a single long slab on the south side, and two side supports to the north. It is possibly the remains of an allée couverte. A pleasure to find this at the start of the day after a bad evening.

Dolmen du Moulin à Vent

Trip No.204  Entry No.309  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: I found the old windmill to the northeast of Broc, but saw no signs of any dolmen.

L'Aurière menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.310  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: This menhir is by the little picnic area at the place where I was stopped from turning by another car going into there.

Dolmen de Laurière

Trip No.204  Entry No.311  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: Probably what was under that tree and those bushes in the lump in the middle of the field where I was trying to find the menhir.

Pierre Couverte (Pontigné)

Trip No.204  Entry No.312  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a very pleasant find. It's well signposted from the village of Pontigné, a couple of kilometres to the west along the D.171 Rue Des Megalithes, and appears on the village plan with a photograph. This is most unusual in these parts where most are very hard, if not impossible to find. Once at the dolmen, its a 400 metre walk along a footpath through the forest from the road.

The dolmen itself is a very nice Angevin style allée couverte, sat in a little clearing in the forest and well tended by the local community. The main chamber is rectangular, 5 metres by 3 metres internal dimensions, not quite tall enough to stand upright in. There are two large capstones on top of two southern side slabs, one large northern one (and a gap), with one large backstone and the two closing front stones still nicely in place. The porchway entrance is still pretty much intact, and is 2.5 metres long by 1.5 metres wide, and still topped by its capstone. The chamber of course opens to the east, with a bearing of about 080°.

As is so often the case, it has suffered from graffitti and fires, with lots of broken bottles laying about. Such a shame.

Baugé Polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.313  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Right outside the front of the chateau, in the town square, can be found this nice polissoir stone, which was found in the forests to the east of the town, and is now proudly on display. The stone itself is a 2.5m by 1.5 m lump, and on the top surface are two large grooves, and many flat polishing surfaces. In fact, pretty much the whole stone is polished smooth. Excellent !

Pierre du Coq et la Poule

Trip No.204  Entry No.314  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around.

The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports. One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge.

These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Pierre du Coq polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.315  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around. The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports.

One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge. These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Molieres Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.316  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This little dolmen can be found to the west of the village of Beauvau, which has a little map with the dolmen marked on it. When you find the track to the dolmen (beware, the village detail map is rotated from the full map!) there is a signpost pointing to it. Its then about a 500 metre walk, and at the top of the windblown hill, hiding under a tree in a field, and with a little wellhouse beside it.

The dolmen is pleasant, with a 4m by 2m chamber topped by a nicely eroded and bowled capstone, 5m by 3m. The present entry is probably not the original, but there because the backstone has fallen, which is at the northwest. The original entry was probably to the SE, but its hard to tell. Many other stones lay about, perhaps it was once much bigger.

Pierre Cesée

Trip No.204  Entry No.317  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Although it looks a bit difficult to get to, this dolmen is actually very easy to visit, either by driving down the little trackway to the parking area right by it (which is signposted from the road), or by walking along the path along the banks of the river Loir. Its about a kilometre to the west of Seiches-sur-le-Loir as the crow flies, but not so straight forward by vehicle. The dolmen sits on the flood plain of the river Loir, which is just 150 metres distant, and is in a tremendous little spot.

Unfortunately, as is nearly always the case, it has suffered from vandalism in the form of graffitti and fires. The dolmen is a large Angevine dolmen, with its main chamber a rectanglar 8 metres by 4 metres, oriented 075° and high enough to stand up in. The single massive capstone is now unfortunately cracked into two pieces, as is the massive side slab on the south side. The north side has two large stones, and there is the usual single backstone. The porchway entrance, as is often the case, is a bit damaged and destroyed, there being only one front stone to the chamber, and one standing entranceway stone. The other is laying broken nearby, and there is no capstone.

I was thinking of not even trying to find this, as it looks a bit out of the way. Very glad I did, all thanks, as is so often the case, to looking at the 1:25,000 maps in the local supermarket !