Betoulle dolmen 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.166  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Haute-Vienne (87))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: I spent quite some time looking for the second dolmen here, in all the hedges and adjacent fields nearby. But never just a few yards across the same field, where a large slab can be found ! Doh !

Borderie Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.164  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Haute-Vienne (87))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: A couple of kilometres west of Berneuil, along the D.83, turn right at the crossroads besides the La Lue dolmen. After a couple of hundred metres there is a trackway to the right, and signposted "dolmen", and then walk along there for another couple of hundred metres.

This is a very pleasant and nice looking dolmen on first sight, standing almost 2 metres tall. But closer inspection leaves me wondering about its authenticity. Firstly there is a fence built right through it, and secondly the entrance, with a fallen stone, is to the west. Inspection of the support stones shows many of them to have been broken and cemented back together from fragments. It is obviously a reconstruction of some sort, but how accurate I would not like to say. However, the chamber is about 3.5 m by 2.5 m with a nice capstone sitting proudly on top at head height.

La Lue Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.163  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Haute-Vienne (87))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: To the west of Berneuil, travel a couple of kilometres along the D.83 and you come to this dolmen at a bend in the road, just after a crossroads, where it is about 30 metres into the field. It has a 4 m by 2 m chamber facing east, made of two long sidestones and with two smaller stones at the back of the chamber, which are made of a different coloured rock. I wonder if it has been "restored". It is covered by a large single capstone about 5m by 4m, but this is now cracked and broken into two pieces. There are traces of a small stone mound around it.

Pierre-Levée (Chiroux)

Trip No.204  Entry No.162  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Atop a little hill overlooking a pond can be found this fine dolmen, 150 metres from the road and signposted with a little parking area. It's chamber is a sort of Vee shape, about 5 metres long and up to 3 metres wide, with its entrance to the east, on a bearing of about 100°. The single large capstone sits about 1.5 metres high on top of two sideslabs each side, and with a single large backstone. There are many other boulders around on the ground nearby, probably natural rocks fallen from the hilltop.

Villaigue Dolmen 2

Trip No.204  Entry No.160  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Well, I just HAD to come here, to the village of St Martin l'Ars, didn't I. All those years ago, when I started researching and cataloging French megalithic sites, I found two dolmens recorded in the community of St Martin l'Ars, possibly via the Merimee online database. Some time later, I had decided to quit work and go on a 6 month odyssey around France looking for old stones - in particular trying to find many of the little know ones. So, it became one of the main objectives of my trip to hunt these two down, as I have been called an Ars on more than one occasion, particularly with respect to going on this expedition, so in a way these were my dolmens !

So, it happened that on 21st July 2005, I got to the village of St Martin l'Ars, which is 40 to 50 kilometres southeast of Poitiers. I have to admit that I had no idea where to find the dolmens, but the French villages often have maps of the locality at their Mairie, sometimes with items of historical interest marked on them. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. It should also be said, that in most of France, their megalithic heritage is not known, and the public usually have no idea about such matters, so asking people is more often than not met with blank looks.

St Martin l'Ars is a nice little village, with a castle and a leisure park. After initially not finding any indication of where the dolmens were, I went and had a picnic lunch beside the lake in the leisure park, where there is a nice beach for swimming, and battery powered galleons which can be rented out ! Within the leisure park I found a map with some local walks marked on it, and to my great joy there was a route marked which passed by the dolmens. So after my lunch and an ice cream on this very hot day, I was able to have a go to try to find them.

A couple of kilometres north of the village, I parked between the hamlets of Vilaigre and Bars, just to the east of the little river, then was able to walk down the obvious track to the south for a couple of hundred metres. The remains of the two dolmens were to be found under the bushes in the field on the left. Both dolmens were thoroughly overgrown, and had been ploughed very close to, and I have to say that both were not much more than a capstone sitting on top of a jumble of other stones. It was impossible to make out any more details of what was once here. I have to say, although there are only two dolmens recorded in the French monuments record, it wouldn't surprise me at all if there were ruined remains of several others hereabouts. There are dotted about other clumps of bushes which might harbour ancient stones, and there are many hedgerows which could hide the odd bit of dolmen. As with much of France, there is probably a lot here to find - it just needs somebody with an interest, and a lot of time on their hands.

The remains of the dolmens are found under the bushes in the field on the left. Dolmen B is about 50 metres to the east of its neighbour, and is in an even worse state. It too has been ploughed very close to, and is more thickly overgrown. Other than a pile of stones, the remnants of the capstone sits in the bushes at an angle, partly on the ground. Again, it was impossible to make out any more details of what was once here.

Villaigue Dolmen 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.159  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Well, I just HAD to come here, to the village of St Martin l'Ars, didn't I. All those years ago, when I started researching and cataloging French megalithic sites, I found two dolmens recorded in the community of St Martin l'Ars, possibly via the Merimee online database. Some time later, I had decided to quit work and go on a 6 month odyssey around France looking for old stones - in particular trying to find many of the little know ones. So, it became one of the main objectives of my trip to hunt these two down, as I have been called an Ars on more than one occasion, particularly with respect to going on this expedition, so in a way these were my dolmens !

So, it happened that on 21st July 2005, I got to the village of St Martin l'Ars, which is 40 to 50 kilometres southeast of Poitiers. I have to admit that I had no idea where to find the dolmens, but the French villages often have maps of the locality at their Mairie, sometimes with items of historical interest marked on them. Unfortunately, that was not the case here. It should also be said, that in most of France, their megalithic heritage is not known, and the public usually have no idea about such matters, so asking people is more often than not met with blank looks.

St Martin l'Ars is a nice little village, with a castle and a leisure park. After initially not finding any indication of where the dolmens were, I went and had a picnic lunch beside the lake in the leisure park, where there is a nice beach for swimming, and battery powered galleons which can be rented out ! Within the leisure park I found a map with some local walks marked on it, and to my great joy there was a route marked which passed by the dolmens. So after my lunch and an ice cream on this very hot day, I was able to have a go to try to find them.

A couple of kilometres north of the village, I parked between the hamlets of Vilaigre and Bars, just to the east of the little river, then was able to walk down the obvious track to the south for a couple of hundred metres. The remains of the two dolmens were to be found under the bushes in the field on the left. Both dolmens were thoroughly overgrown, and had been ploughed very close to, and I have to say that both were not much more than a capstone sitting on top of a jumble of other stones. It was impossible to make out any more details of what was once here. I have to say, although there are only two dolmens recorded in the French monuments record, it wouldn't surprise me at all if there were ruined remains of several others hereabouts. There are dotted about other clumps of bushes which might harbour ancient stones, and there are many hedgerows which could hide the odd bit of dolmen. As with much of France, there is probably a lot here to find - it just needs somebody with an interest, and a lot of time on their hands.

The remains of the first dolmen is found under the bushes in the field on the left. Dolmen A has been ploughed very close to, and I have to say that it is not much more than a capstone about 4 m by 2 m sitting on top of a jumble of other stones, aligned to the northeast.

Arlait Dolmens

Trip No.204  Entry No.158  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Being more careful this time, and not in so much of a rush, I was able to find this dolmen. Follow the signs to the north of the village of Chateau Larcher for about a kilometre, and just before the road gets to the top of the hill, stop. There is a little dirt track which crosses the road, and if you look carefully, has a little painted sign to dolmen, to the west (left) of the road. Follow this track for about 800 metres, alongside a large wire fence most of the way, and the dolmen is then about 80 metres to the north (right) down a wide open trackway. The dolmen is a fairly large one, with a rectangular chamber about 4 metres by 3.5 metres, with an entranceway facing to the southeast.

The rock is very holey limestone, and much of it has cracked and crumbled, and the capstone has all fallen in. In fact it looks to have broken very recently, as a couple of the breaks are very fresh. The dolmen is still within the remains of a fair sized mound of loose rock, probably 25 to 30 metres in diameter, covered in the inevitable oak woodland. There are several other slabs of rock laying about, and I wondered if there was a second chamber within the mound. While I was sat here, there were a couple of deer not far away, looking at me.

Pouzac Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.155  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Even having the detailed map, finding this dolmen was not easy. Go south along the track from the east end of the hamlet of Pouzac, then go right at the crossroads of trackways. Go along here for 100 metres and then the dolmen is to be found in the southern side of the southern hedge, and is getting a bit overgrown. It is a little limestone simple dolmen, with a capstone about 3 m by 2 m sat up off the ground on several broken support stones, with its entrance towards the east.

Vaintray menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.157  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the east of the hamlet of Vaintray, and about 100 metres south down a little cross track from the road to Aslonnes, can be found this little menhir, stood in a little grassy clearing amongst bushes in a region left clear of the fields. It is a small triangular stone, only about 1.3 metres tall, and 0.8 metres wide at the base. It's got some lovely yellow lichens on it, and is hiding in amongst some strange fruit trees, sort of a tiny little bright red plum, which nothing wants to eat. I have not seen these before.

Dolmen de Laverré

Trip No.204  Entry No.156  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen is a kilometre or so to the south of the village of Andillé, and can be found in the round wooded area behind the lone house to the northwest of the road. The wooded area is perhaps the remains of a tumulus surrounding the dolmen, which is a nicely made rectangular dolmen. A single capstone sits on top of a 3.5m by 2.5 m chamber, made with two sidestones each side, two backstones and a single stone at the east end, where the entrance is. This is a nice find, especially after missing it twice yesterday.

La Pierre-Levée (Poitiers)

Trip No.204  Entry No.149  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 20th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Leaving a major shopping complex having been to buy a new camera, I saw a sign to dolmen, so just followed the signs. Past the Gymnasium de dolmen, past a school and along Rue du Dolmen, and there it is. This suburban dolmen is in a little well tended garden park area amongst the houses in southeastern Poitiers. It has a rectangular chamber about 4 m by 2 m and a large capstone sat on several supports along the south side, but fallen to the ground at the northern side. What a strange place to find something like this.

Croissonnière Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.144  Date Added: 17th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 20th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Up on the hill to the southeast of the village of Nanteuil, right behind a road of new houses (Rue du Dolmen) can be found the remains of this little dolmen, a few hundred metres walk from the road. It is not much of a dolmen now, more just a large capstone about 4.5 m by 3.5 m, and a pile of stones, tight up against the back hedge and fences of the new houses. It has seen better times!

While I was here, there is a young chap out in his back garden, sitting under an umbrella, seemingly randomly shooting at things with an air rifle.

Dolmen de la Garenne (La Mothe)

Trip No.204  Entry No.143  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The Dolmen de la Garenne at Villedieu-de-Comblé is fairly easily found from the southern end of the village by following Allée du Dolmen up to the top of the hill and then walking along the footpath to the left into the woods. This is in all just a few hundred metres walk.

The dolmen is in a clearing in the woods, and still mostly within its mound. I cannot be totally sure what this is the remains of, whether it is one chamber with a long and angled passage, or more likely two chambers with entry passageways. The most obvious remnant is a 4m by 3m capstone still sitting above the ground on top of various crumbling support slabs. To the east of this are a lot more stones, which could be the entrance passageway, or the remains of another chamber. From here there is an entrance passageway going off through the mound to the south. It is possible that there are two chambers which both exit to the south.

However, there is just too much undergrowth here, and it has been too messed about with for me to be sure. There are deer in these woods here with me, which I can see as I sit and write this, watching me carefully.

Dolmen du Bourg (Exoudun)

Trip No.204  Entry No.142  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: The remains of Exoudun dolmen are to be found less than 100 metres from the village centre and road junction, and it is signposted from there. It is a bit of a wreck, and the 5m by 3m capstone has fallen to the south with the collapse down the hill of the side stone. The back stone is still upright. This has probably not been helped in the past by the building of a flat terraced garden for the big house below, which has been cut into the hillside here.

Dolmen des Sept Chemins

Trip No.204  Entry No.141  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: La Pierre Levée, Sept Chemins dolmen can be found not far from the Bougon necropolis, which is just a couple of kilometres away. The dolmen, just to the south of the Sept Chemins crossroads, has been recently restored, and sits in a little area with parking and notice board. The chamber is about 3m by 2m, with two side slabs and a backstone covered by a nice capstone. The entrance is completely open to the full 2 metres width, and faces towards the southeast. A couple of smaller slabs mark out the short entry corridor. The dolmen sits in the remains of a 9 metre diameter circular cairn.

This dolmen is becoming much more like those of southern France rather than the large complex dolmens of a bit further north. The crumbling limestone from which it is made is also more like what is to be found further south.

Bougon Tumulus F

Trip No.204  Entry No.140  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Bougon Tumulus F is a wonderfully reconstructed three stage construction. The earliest part, F1 has a small round dolmen within a cairn made of drystone walling with a corbelled beehive roof. This is said to be the oldest dated man made room in the world. Fantastic. F2 is a long thin construction adjoining F1. F3 is another circular construction at the far end of F2 from the F1 cairn. This contains a large dolmenic chamber under a massive capstone, and includes some engravings on some of the side slabs.

Bougon Tumulus E

Trip No.204  Entry No.139  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Bougon Tumulus E is a rectangular shaped tumulus, containing two dolmenic chambers. One of these would have been covered by a large capstone on top of slabs, while the other was almost certainly corbelled.

Bougon Tumulus D

Trip No.204  Entry No.138  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Cairn Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Bougon Tumulus D seems to be more a defining line separating the necropolis into two parts. It is about 70 metres in length, but only 1 or 2 metres in width, and it winds in a serpentlike form between the quarries used to get the stone to build the other tumuli.

Bougon Tumulus C

Trip No.204  Entry No.137  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Bougon Tumulus C another large round tumulus, with a single small chamber within, about 2 metres by 1 metre. The entrance to this is now open, but the original was sealed. Adjoining on the back of this is another large rectangular tumulus with drystone walling.

Bougon Tumulus B

Trip No.204  Entry No.136  Date Added: 15th Aug 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Bougon Tumulus B is a long thin tumulus adjoining A, within which there are two dolmenic chambers, and also two funerary pits in the top. A superb reconstruction has been done here.