Kerelcun Menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.551  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Just off the D.764 road by the hamlet of Kerelcun can be found this nearly 5 metre tall, 3 metre wide menhir, standing in a little green area with a picnic table. It is signposted from the village and easy to find.

Menhir de Coat Mocun nord

Trip No.203  Entry No.550  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Couldn't find on 23rd Jun 2005

Log Text: Supposedly 8 metres tall, and re-erected recently when they built the new road, I could not find this. I asked an old gent with a straw hat and waving a stick, who was pushing a wheelbarrow of grass. He took great delight in telling me how I could get to see it, although it was on private land, but he was fairly difficult to understand. From what I did understand, I thought he said it was in a quarry area, I had several looks, from various points of attack, but could not find it. Bummer.

Kerampeulven Menhir

Trip No.187  Entry No.87  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 10th Sep 1987. My rating: Access 5

Log Text: Cycling camping trip round Brittany 1987 day 11. Day at Huelgoat, cycle to Carhaix to get bike fixed in afternoon. Many strange shaped rocks, and a large menhir with modern ish carvings

Kerampeulven Menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.549  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Just to the north of the village of Huelgoat, well known for its lake and strange shaped rocks, is this lovely menhir which is signposted from the road to Berrien, and is easy to find. Its about 5 metres tall, and a lovely shape, set in a little grassy area with some nicely shaded picnic tables. At some time in the past local quarrymen have engraved little pictures onto it. There is a house and several animals, plus a few other shapes and things. The animals are quite jolly.

Ty ar Boudiquet Dolmen

Trip No.187  Entry No.81  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 9th Sep 1987. My rating: Condition 5 Access 5

Log Text: Cycling camping trip round Brittany 1987 day 10. Cycle from Telgruc up over the moors to Huelgoat.

St-Guinec menhir

Trip No.187  Entry No.82  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 9th Sep 1987. My rating: Condition 5 Access 5

Log Text: Cycling camping trip round Brittany 1987 day 10. Cycle from Telgruc up over the moors to Huelgoat.

St-Guinec menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.548  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Despite being nearly 6 metres tall, this beautiful menhir is becoming obscured from view by a large thick hedge around the garden within which it stands. This is a shame, as it really is a rather nice stone. It can be found just off the Huelgoat to Brennilis road, by the bridge over the busy north / south D.764 highway.

Alignement de Leintant

Trip No.203  Entry No.547  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Couldn't find on 23rd Jun 2005

Log Text: Row of fallen menhirs now incorporated into a bank at the edge of a field. I could find no trace of this alignment, supposed to contain one standing and three fallen menhirs, which was said to align on mid-summer sunrise. I found the farm, and went up and down the road several times, with no luck. Supposedly, the standing stone is nearly 4 metres tall and beside the road.....

Leintant menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.546  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Couldn't find on 23rd Jun 2005

Log Text: Three metre tall menhir, which was probably once part of the nearby alignment.

Ty ar Boudiquet Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.545  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: What a lovely monument this is! It's one of my favourites. It is easy to find, just at the northern edge of Brennilis village and clearly signposted, it has a little car park, a picnic area and it lives in a lovely large green and shady area, all very nicely looked after and with birdies tweeting away.

It is a rare dolmen in V form, which is thought to be a transitional stage between dolmens with entry passages (dolmen a couloir) and allée couvertes. It has been dated to about 3000BC.

It is almost complete, and has most of its earthern mound still with it, only a part of the back end has been destroyed by having a wall built through it. The chamber is about 14 metres long and varies in width from about 1 metre wide at the entrance, to nearly 3 metres at full width. The height also varies from about a metre to stand up height. The chamber opens at 125°. The main part of the is covered with three massive capstones, and has within it a standing stone which does not quite reach the roof. Perhaps a stele, but not smoothed and sculpted, or perhaps the remains of an internal wall.

Outside the chamber, the mound is almost complete, and even comes with most of its surrounding peristalith of stones. It is of an oval shape, approximately 17 metres long by 6 metres wide, and still up to 3 metres in height. Unfortunately the back end is cut by a wall and field boundary. The fairies house really is just that. A beautiful place for the little people to live.

An-Eured-Ven

Trip No.203  Entry No.544  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: On the high moorland to the southwest of the St Michel reservoir, in the bowl below the Montagnes d'Arrée to the southeast of Mont St Michel, can be found some rows of white quartz stones, the name of which, An-Eured-Ven, translates to something approximating the wedding stones dance.

I found a couple of hundred metre long, slightly curved line of white quartz blocks running along the ridgetop just to the south of the lake, the alignment of which varies from 078° to 085° as you go from west to east. Further thoughts on what I found, and I think its perhaps more like two straight rows which converge on a point, or a kinked row, rather than curved. At the kink there is a collection of larger stones which may at one point have been significant. At the eastern end the stones are bigger, and the last stone I found is positioned across the end of the row rather like a Dartmoor blocking stone. The row does not align on St Michel Hill, nor at this eastern end go along the top of the ridge as it runs away at 279°. The western end of the row just seems to fade away into the undergrowth.

Further looking around and I found another line of stones about 100 metres to the north, and which looks to be on an approximately parallel course to the first row. There are lots of other blocks of stone to be seen in amongst the heather, I wonder if a full survey has ever been done here ?

From on top of St Michel Hill, using binoculars, the two rows of stones can clearly be seen, but they form a sort of V shape, with the point towards the east. There is a group of schoolchildren out amongst the rows, with musicians and storytellers. What a great lesson they must be having.

Le Rocher du Diable

Trip No.203  Entry No.543  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a pleasant enough menhir in a field beside the road on the western slopes of the hill upon which the Chapelle St Michel is built. It's approaching three metres in height, nearly as wide at the base, and made of the local quarzite stone, which is pointed at the top. There is another block of stone beside it which is the top which was broken off after a lightning strike. With a name like this, there should be legends and stories, but I dont know of any.

Mougau Bihan

Trip No.203  Entry No.542  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This is an absolutely splendid allée couverte, which has been dated to 3000BC, found a couple of kilometres to the south of the village of Commana, and signposted from there. It has a little car park and picnic area, as well as a nice and spacious grassy area around it.

The main chamber is 14 metres in length and oriented approximately north to south, with its entrance at the northern end. The southern end has an extra small chamber, the "cella", the two parts being divided by a splendid "chevet" stone. The roof is made of five large capstones, four on the main chamber, and one on the cella. The internal width and height are about 1.5 metres.

But the best thing about this monument is all the ornamental engravings on the internal faces of the stones. About half of the side slabs have engravings on them which are fairly clear to make out. Most of these engravings are what are called "palettes", some stones having several of these of various designs next to each other. One of the stones has two pairs of the double hemispheres on it - these have been largely interpreted as pairs of breasts. The closing stone between the two chambers has a palette and also a wonderful polished axe, contained within its "crosse", but this is one of the least clear engravings, being much more weatherworn than some which have been better protected.

Mougau Bihan translates from the Breton language to "Fairies Cave".

Commana Stèle

Trip No.203  Entry No.540  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: On the village green by the car park round the back of the church can be found this Iron Age granite stèle. It's a tapered cylindrical shape just over 2 metres high. There are no obvious grooves or other shaping to it.

Bois de la Roche dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.541  Date Added: 2nd Jun 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: I am not quite sure exactly what I found here - the pile of rocks I found looked decidedly natural, yet in a very distinctive pile with one set on top of three and a large space underneath, and its in exactly the right place compared to the map. I guess its one of those dolmens made using the best locally available materials. In dense woodland, but right at the junction of two country lanes about 3 km north of the village of Commana.

Barnenez Cairn

Trip No.214  Entry No.12  Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: After our visit to Ile Carn, we really had to pay a visit to this, to show Dad the sanitised version of one of these big Brittany Cairns, and just how big they can get. Unfortunately, we arrived just after 5:00, and the man would not let us in, saying that yes, it is open till 5:30, but last entrance was before 5:00 (now about €5:50).

Never mind, we had time to wander round the outside, and although the fence and hedges now prevent any view from the south or east, from the north most of the cairn can be seen through a few gaps from where the cairn 2 is. I am not sure how many of the 11 passages and chambers can be entered these days, as most look closed off. However, for our purposes, this was enough of a visit really; as Dad said, it wouldn't be as good as the one out on the island.

Barnenez Cairn

Trip No.203  Entry No.539  Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This magnificent large cairn, is now signposted from miles around as Le Grand Cairn (de Barnenez). It costs €4.60 to get in, and there is a little visitor centre and shop, with replicas of some of the carved stones on display. Unlike 12 years ago, or whenever, you cannot go into many of the chambers, which are now walled off fairly crudely and unimaginatively, which I think really spoils the place. Its not just that you cant get in, but the way its been done really detracts from the view of the cairn and all its many entrances.

Only two chambers and passages are now open, these being the two beehive construction open chambers, but these seem to be cracking and breaking up. I was told by the man in the centre that they are not, and that they have been like that since their discovery. Perhaps its my memory, but I wonder if the 1960s restoration work is not lasting anywhere near so long as the original 6,000 year old work!

It's still a mighty impressive and imposing tomb sitting on top of its headland, and I think that more land has been cleared around it, allowing much better views over the Bay of Morlaix on one side, and Anse de Terenez on the other, which during this visit were full with a high tide, making the whole place seem truly wonderful.

I got talking to the men in the shop, and they were interested to hear about what I was doing, and one of the guys suggested a couple of places that I shouldn't miss. Commana allee couverte near Roche Trevezel, and Chapelle des Sept Saints near Lannion - a chapel built on top of a dolmen, which can still be seen.

Kerivin Dolmen

Trip No.216  Entry No.1  Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 28th Jun 2016. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Not far off the busy road between Morlaix and Roscoff, this Tee shaped allee couvetre is becoming very overgrown, and its difficult to make anything out at all now. It is also not far from a field corner where people have decided to dumpstuff, so overall its not a winner. I seem to remember this from many years ago as being a good and interesting place to visit.

Kerivin Dolmen

Trip No.187  Entry No.92  Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 11th Sep 1987. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Cycling camping trip round Brittany day 12. Cycle from Huelgoat, across the Monts Arrée in the pouring rain to St Pol de Leon

Kerivin Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.538  Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Not far off the busy road between Morlaix and Roscoff, this Tee shaped allee couvetre is becoming very overgrown, and its difficult to make anything out at all now. It is also not far from a field corner where people have decided to dumpstuff, so overall its not a winner. I seem to remember this from about 10 years ago as being a good and interesting place to visit.