Mané-er-Hroëck tumulus

Trip No.203  Entry No.354  Date Added: 10th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 11th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Blimey, whatever next ? This is a large mound of stones, just to the south of the village of Locmariaquer. A path leads up between the houses to the top of the tumulus, of which the shape and size are indeterminate due to the houses all around it. Once on top of the tumulus, a set of relatively modern steps cut downwards into the heart of the mound through the stones. Down it goes, round a corner, and then, 10 metres in and 5 metres down, there is an entrance into a chamber.

It is a simple chamber, about 5 metres by 3 metres, but not quite high enough to stand up straight in. The walls are largely drystone, with a couple of large capstones forming the roof. I could not make out if there were any carvings, but it was dark and my lamp was fairly feeble. This is another fantastic find, and again passed by and missed by the masses. Take a good torch.

Pierres Plates (Locmariaquer)

Trip No.203  Entry No.356  Date Added: 10th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 11th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: This famous angled passage grave with its many sculpted stones is right at the end of the Locmariaquer peninsular overlooking the sea, and still mostly within a small covering mound. The chamber turns about 45 degrees to the left after about 6 metres, with a side chamber bisecting the angle. From this corner, there is about another 10 metres of passage to the final chamber, seperated from the widening passage by a nicely carved stone. The carvings on the passageway side supports get more exotic the further you get into the monument.

Although the entire passageway is covered, I think most of the stones used are modern replacements. Take a good torch with you to see the details of all the carved stones. Unfortunately, my camera started misbehaving here, and the flash would not work properly, and so I couldn't get any decent pictures from within the tomb. However, this place is thoroughly documented in many other places.

Pointe Er Hourél Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.358  Date Added: 10th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 11th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: This dolmen is in just about the best position of any I have been to, out near the end of Er Hourel point in a little pinewood. Access is either by a fair walk from the nearest car park for Plage St Pierre, or the way I did it was by an excellent off road bike route from Locmariaquer, which took me along country lanes, across tidal weirs, up a creek, round some gardens and a few places where I had to carry the bike before reaching the last kilometre along the sands. This route is not to be attempted at high tide !

When I was here, the sun was setting in the west over Carnac and the Arzon peninsular was all lit up in the golden sky to the east, Quiberon and the islands can be seen across the sea speckled with sailing boats, while the wind rushes through the pines. Absolutely smashing. Pity that I have to make my way back soon.

The dolmen isn't much, a few support stones standing round a fallen capstone of what would have been a 2 metre wide chamber. How long it would have been is anybodies guess, it could be just 2 metres, or it could be like the nearby Pierres Plates and be up to 20 metres long. The floor of the chamber is paved.

Kerlescan nord allée couverte

Trip No.203  Entry No.381  Date Added: 11th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 12th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: The remains of this monument can be found at the eastern end of the Kerlescan alignements, around the back to the north, and in a wood. It is about 60 metres long by 8 metres wide tumulus, completely surrounded by a stone peristalith. Inside this mound is a 16 metre long lateral entrance allee couverte type structure, but unfortunately with only one remaining capstone at the western end. Its entry is from the southern side near the east end. The mound is rectangular in shape at the western end, and curved at the east, and is still 2 or 3 metres high.

Ménec cromlech

Trip No.203  Entry No.382  Date Added: 11th May 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 12th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Curving around the Creperie at the western end of the Menec alignements, this almost contiguous semicircle of stones really is splendid, and most people who visit the nearby stones do not know that it is there, or think that it’s a wall. All sorts of other bits of the cromlech can be found in between the buildings of the Menec hamlet. This place really is magic without the people.

Cruz Menquen dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.384  Date Added: 11th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 12th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: In amongst the homes near to the sports facilities to the north of the town is Carnac's own dolmen. It is a small affair, with a 2.5 m by 2 metre capstone mounted on three support stones. On top of the capstone has been mounted a large, 2.5 metre tall cross.

Geant du Manio

Trip No.203  Entry No.385  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a 5 metre high menhir, fairly easily found and obviously very popular because of all the erosion around it. It is only 50 metres from the quadrilateral. It’s a very nice stone in the woodland, but I guess it can become a bit of a nightmare when crowded.

Le Petit Ménec

Trip No.203  Entry No.369  Date Added: 11th May 2020
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 12th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: This is a nice place to explore on a hot afternoon, a nice walk in a cool woodland filled with stones. There are hundreds of them to be seen, lined up through the woods, mostly less than a metre tall but some reach up to about 2 metres. There are round ones, pointy ones, square ones, thick ones, thin ones, indeed all shapes and sizes. Look a bit further into the woods away from the footpath and you'll find more stones.

The lines seem to get closer together, as does the spacing of the stones, the further east you go, but nothing seems very ordered or regular. From where I sit and have a contemplate, I can count 8 rows, but there are probably more hidden by trees or under walls.

Excellent. I later find out that there was once much more to be seen here, with the rows being destroyed and removed in order to build the Belle Ile lighthouse.

Le Quadrilatere

Trip No.203  Entry No.386  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a quadrilateral of stones in the forest to the north of the alignements. It initially looks to me like the outside peristalith from a long gone passage grave, but closer inspection shows it to be more than that.

As I am here, a party of horse riders ride right through, and then a bus tour of people, who all turn up, take a picture, and then move on elsewhere. While here I met a couple of Brazilian ladies who saw I was writing, and came up to ask me some questions. They are looking out the old stones, and were interested in what I was doing, and wanted to take my internet address. I should have got them to take a picture of me beside the Giant.

Dolmen de Run Mori

Trip No.203  Entry No.389  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Couldn't find on 13th Jun 2005

Log Text: I could not find this in dense gorse filled woodland, on a hill somewhere to the east of the lane leading to Nauterio.

Dolmen de Nauterio

Trip No.203  Entry No.390  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a pleasant little dolmen, sadly becoming very overgrown, which can be found about 50 metres up the track which leads northwest beyond Nauterio towards Keriaval. It has a 2.5 by 2 metre chamber, with a 6 to 7 metre entrance passageway which has a couple of its capstones still in place.

The French Aeronavale are playing overhead in their Super Etendards.

Dolmen de Cosquer Er Mané

Trip No.203  Entry No.394  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: A pleasant little dolmen well presented on a sort of village green to the north of the chapel. This is almost certainly the remains of the back end of a passage grave with most of the entry corridor removed, although a few stones and a capstone still remain. The chamber is about 3 metres by 3 metres, with a single large capstone resting on top of several side supports. The back stone has gone.

Tennad-er-Menguen Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.395  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Back to the overgrown sites again ! This one is down a lane then across a field before finding it in the undergrowth. Probably once upon a time this was quite a good dolmen with an entry passageway, there is a 3 metre diameter chamber with capstone, and a few stones of the entrance still standing, along with at least one capstone surviving.

Mané Braz menhirs

Trip No.203  Entry No.403  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Just the other side of the footpath to the Mané Braz dolmens, down the hill, is a line of large stones still standing, each about a metre high. There are many other stones. I have no idea what this may be. Maybe a wrecked tomb of some kind.

Kerjean Menhirs

Trip No.203  Entry No.404  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005

Log Text: Travelling along the Chemin des Megalithes, to the west of the Mané Braz dolmens, are to be seen several megaliths within the woods. These are the Kerjean menhirs, but I don’t have enough time to explore every single stone around here. This really is a cracking ride along this path. I can't recommend it highly enough.

La Table du Sacrifice

Trip No.203  Entry No.406  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Pretty much in the middle of the Géants de Kerzerho are two fallen giants, more than six metres long. It looks like one of the flat fallen stones may have been used as a dolmen with a chamber underneath it.

Perhaps they are not fallen giants. Maybe this is the true Pierre des Sacrifices. Maybe it was a fallen giant then used in later times for other purposes.

Whatever this all is here, its a wonderful place.

Kerzerho Alignements

Trip No.203  Entry No.407  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: It’s a pity about the busy road running through them, but they are here, looking superb in the sun and you can wander freely amongst them. However, I just want to get back now, having spent almost an hour fixing my bike. There is a Dutch couple here, the man spending ages taking photos with all sorts of kit. Three big bags worth. And wifey posing in front of the stones. These Dutch, eh ? There are a fantastic number of stones in the field here, some of them really lovely shapes.

Kergavat Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.408  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Right beside the busy D.781 road just to the south of Plouharnel, can be found this dolmen. In fact, the road has cut through the entrance corridor. This would have been a fairly big standard dolmen with a 4 metre or 3 metre chamber with a corridor to the south east. The single capstone sits on several supports, but its hard to think of this as a good one, being cut by the road, adjacent to a house, overgrown with oats and underneath some powerlines.

Carnac Musée de Préhistoire

Trip No.203  Entry No.413  Date Added: 21st May 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 14th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: There is lots of stuff in here, found at various places in the locality. Some good explanations of the various types of dolmen and tumulus to be found, and some lovely replicas of many of the engraved stones to be found. Seems like I have seen most of these now.

Mané-Kerioned Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.392  Date Added: 14th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 13th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: This monument is in the process of being cleared of undergrowth at the time of my visit, so despite cutting and strimmers working around the place, I will get to see it. Perhaps the authorities are just starting on a major clear up of many of the ancient sites after years of neglect.

Much has been written about this place and the finds excavated here in the past, so I will not write much. This site has a collection of three passage graves, once all contained within a large oval mound, some of which still remains despite the road cutting right through it. Two of the passages are aligned north south, with the entrances at the south, while the other is situated between these, and aligned east west with its opening to the east.

The central and western chambers are now largely fully above ground, but the eastern chamber is almost completely still below ground level in what remains of the mound. Entry to this passage is down some modern stairs, and a torch is necessary to see the insides properly. Within this tomb, there are many finely carved stones, with unusual chequerboard designs on them, as well as some more standard serpents and axes, but unfortunately my camera seemed to be playing up again.

At various places surrounding the site are several menhirs remaining.