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Allée Couverte de Kergoustance
Trip No.203 Entry No.455 Date Added: 23rd May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4
Allée Couverte de Kergoustance submitted by johnstone on 21st Mar 2019. The 17 metres of monument with tree, June 19, 2004
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Log Text: This is a nice allée couverte which can be found in a field just to the right of the D.24 road as you head southwest out of Moelan-sur-Mer just at the limits of the village. The chamber is more than 15 metres in length, and has all seven capstones still in place, although a couple of them are broken. It is aligned on about 055°, but it is difficult to be precise because of the trees growing within it preventing me getting a good sightline for my compass. The stones consist of a nice pink granite, and is of the leaning side stone type construction. At the back end, the last section is blocked off with a crosswise slab.
Kernédiec allée couverte
Trip No.203 Entry No.456 Date Added: 23rd May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5
Kernédiec allée couverte submitted by richardhtc on 5th Sep 2006. Kernédiec allée couverte, Commune of Riec sur Belon, August 2006
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Log Text: Kernédiec allée couverte is of the arc boutée type construction, and it is one of only eight of this type known. This is where one row of side stones leans up against the other and there are no capstones, rather than the more normal two rows of uprights and horizontal capstones. The chamber is about eight metres in length, and faces eastwards at 085°. The six stones on the northern side are set fairly vertically, while the seven on the southern side lean on to them.
This type of construction saves on stones, but makes a much smaller space inside the chamber. This monument is to be found in a little picnic area besides the road a few kilometres to the south of the village of Riec-sur-Belon, but its a fairly tortuous drive to get to it !
Allée Couverte de Coat Luzuen
Trip No.203 Entry No.457 Date Added: 23rd May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Allée couverte de Coat Luzuen submitted by greywether on 4th Jul 2005. This is a site which I did not know the name of, just the location. So I hope I have allocated the right name to it.
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Log Text: Coat Luzuen allée couverte is situated in a field just to the west of the little road running north from the hamlet of Luzuen, and although signposted, it is quite difficult to find, with the last signpost being small and almost hidden, overgrown in a hedge opposite to a farm building.
When I visited this I was not totally sure what it was I was visiting, I could not be sure whether it is the remains of a strangely shaped allée couverte, or perhaps two dolmens, both quite large and opening to the west. Although I know of this as an allée couverte, it is marked on some maps as two dolmens, and as far as I can ascertain from more research, it was a single large allée couverte which has had a section removed from its centre.
The western part of the two sections has a large chamber covered by a massive single capstone 7 metres long by 3 metres wide, and it is easy to stand up inside. The eastern part, which was possibly once joined as the two side walls line up, is not so large, and is only open to the west, in the direction of its neighbour, and has only two sidestones and an endstone, the other side having collapsed.
Ty Corriganet de Coat Menez Guen
Trip No.203 Entry No.458 Date Added: 23rd May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3
Ty Corriganet de Coat Menez Guen submitted by Ozzie on 8th Mar 2016. Ty Corriganet de Coat Menez is 1km past Allée Couverte de Coat Luzuen down a farm track, across a soggy ford and in a field on the left. It is quite overgrown. The Allée Couverte de Coat Luzuen photo has been incorrectly used for this monument in Megalithes de Bretagne.
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Log Text: From the Coat Luzuen allée couverte, continue on about 800 metres further down the road which peters out into a trackway and descends to the bottom of the valley. Turn left at the bottom, cross the stream, go along the wet track and the Coat-Menez-Guen allée couverte is to be found at the end of the field. Unfortunately when I visited, it was completely inaccessible through a large crop of rape seed.
It is supposedly a superb monument, being a 14 metre long allée couverte of the arc boutée type with some capstones added for good measure. However, all I saw was the capstones ! It took me a lot of effort and time to get here, and unfortunately it was not worth the effort in this state. Its probably a good one to visit in February or something !
Dolmen de Menez-Veil
Trip No.203 Entry No.459 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5
Dolmen de Menez-Veil submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. The Dolmen de Menez-Veil can be found right by the roadside near a roundabout at the entrance to the village of Lesconil, on a little tended grassy area.
It looks like it might be somebodies garden.
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Log Text: The Rue Jules Ferry dolmen is a strange one. There's a little capstone sitting at a funnyangle on three support stones, on top of a stone mound, which is sort of walled in and held together by stone slabs around the outside. I can only assume that it's all been very rearranged at some point. It can be found right by the roadside near a roundabout at the entrance to the village of Lesconil, on a little tended grassy area. It looks like it might be somebodies garden.
Kervignon Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.460 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5
Kervignon dolmen submitted by minteddy on 9th Aug 2006. Kervignon dolmen
This dolmen is behind the sports ground in Plobannalec on the road to Lesconil. The photograph was taken Monday 31 July 2006 at about 15:30 French time in the pouring rain
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Log Text: This little dolmen, with a capstone sitting on three side slabs is to be found round the back of the local sports centre. The capstone is nicely rain worn on the top, and sits at a jaunty angle. It perhaps once had an entry corridor as the side stones are smaller at one end, and I believe that this is in fact the remains of what was once a compartmented dolmen, with much of the rest of it destroyed.
Kervadol Dolmens
Trip No.203 Entry No.461 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5
Kervadol dolmens submitted by minteddy on 4th Dec 2006. You can see the two dolmen together in this view
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Log Text: This is the remains of two little dolmens about 10 metres away from each other, not far from the sports fields. I could not be sure as to whether they were once in different mounds, or if they would have both been in the same one. Both have similar chambers, with a capstone sitting on a couple of side stones each side, and facing south.
The eastern of the two is in much better condition, and the capstone is in its proper position. That on the western dolmen has fallen to one side. Both of these dolmens have a strange feature which is a large square slab lined hollow beside them on the eastern side, or perhaps on both sides. Would these have been side chambers ? There is no sign of any capstones, and any entrance would have had to have been round the back. It's all very odd. These slabs are perhaps a bit like the stones around the Lesconil dolmen, except that the mound is outside of these rather than on the inside.
I later found out that these are remains of a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections.
Kerfuens Dolmens
Trip No.203 Entry No.462 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5
Kerfuens dolmens submitted by thecaptain on 14th Dec 2006. A few hundred metres to the west of the Plobannalec sports centre can be found the remains of two more dolmens.
The eastern one is not in a very good condition.
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Log Text: Just a few hundred metres to the west of the sports centre can be found the remains of two more little dolmens sat inside small mounds, which are kept in a little cleared area for all to see.
As for the Kervadol dolmens, they are about ten metres from each other in an east to west sense, but open to face the north. The western one is in quite good condition, the eastern not so. The chambers are about 2 metres long, and 1 metre wide, with side slabs and around them what looks like a cairn of stones held in place with side slabs. Again, it is hard to tell whether these would have been in separate mounds, or one big one. I feel it is probably one mound with two additional parts.
I later found out that these are remains of a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections.
Tronval Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.463 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Tronval dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. Southwest of Plobannalec, the Tronval dolmens are found just a hundred metres walk from the Quélarn dolmens.
They look to be the remains of what appears to be a pair of chambers, just a few metres apart.
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Log Text: The Tronval dolmen is found just a hundred metres walk from the Quélarn dolmens parking area, on the opposite side of the road. There are the remains of what appears to be another pair of chambers, this time only a few metres apart. The southwestern one is completely collapsed, while the northwestern has a fallen capstone resting on two sideslabs, with perhaps an entrance passage, and two slabs jutting out sideways. Perhaps these are facing slabs to the front of the cairn ? The ruined chamber also has these side slabs which seem to be a feature round here.
I later found out that these are remains of a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections.
Quélarn Dolmens
Trip No.203 Entry No.464 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Quélarn dolmens submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. Part of the informative noticeboard at this interesting site, showing the details of these Compartmented Dolmens.
Much of the siteplan can be seen, although I have chopped off the right hand end.
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Log Text: The Quélarn dolmens are fairly easily found as they are signposted a couple of kilometres to the west of Plobannalec, and they have their own little parking space and picnic area. Although mostly destroyed in the middle ages when it was used as a quarry, this massive site has been excavated and restored, and got an explanatory noticeboard. These have been dated to the middle neolithic.
These are a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had massive chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections, and to hold up the roof. This was all once a massive monument in a 50 metre long mound, running east to west, with six of the compartmented chambers within it, all facing to the south, as opposed to the other two I have seen previously. The basic layout of the structure can be seen, but only the large side slabs remain, making a sort of ground plan. Only one capstone remains in place for the whole thing. Some of the chambers would have been massive. The largest one at the west measures about 10 metres by 8 metres rectangular, and is more like a 9 roomed house than a burial chamber !
It is nice to see it all kept clear of undergrowth and presented like this, but the mechanical clearance cutters used are damaging the stones, many of which have been scraped and cracked by the cutters.
Quélarn menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.465 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Quélarn menhir submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. Just to the south of the Quélarn burial cairns is a small menhir, about 2.5 metres tall.
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Log Text: Just to the south of the Quélarn burial cairns is a small menhir, about 2.5 metres tall. It is assumed that the two are related. These have been dated to the middle neolithic.
Pendreff Alignement
Trip No.203 Entry No.466 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Pendreff Alignement submitted by thecaptain on 7th Dec 2006. The Kerfland menhirs are three gorgeous tall slender menhirs standing in a row at the edge of a wood south of Plomeur.
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Log Text: The Kerfland menhirs are three gorgeous tall slender menhirs standing in a row at the edge of a wood, easily reached down a little signposted footpath from the roadside a couple of kilometres south of Plomeur. They line up almost due north to south, at an alignment of 005° magnetic (in 2005) and are spaced about 5 metres apart from each other.
To me, these are the supermodels of the menhir world, each being over 5 metres tall yet only 30cm thick, and up to 2 m wide, and are very elegantly shaped into curvy features. The southern one is sort of pointing skywards. Unfortunately the central stone has obviously been broken in the past, but is cemented back together in a very reasonable way. It is just a pity that they are a bit overgrown, making pictures difficult, but not too badly.
Allée Couverte de Menez Landu
Trip No.203 Entry No.467 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5
Allée couverte de Menez Landu submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. This initially looks like a straightforward simple dolmen beside the busy D.785 road, southwest of Plomeur, but it is almost lost within the undergrowth.
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Log Text: This looks like a straightforward simple dolmen beside the busy D.785, a kilometre or so southwest of Plomeur. It has a single capstone on top of two side stones, and a large backstone, but it is almost lost within the undergrowth. But it looked a bit to me as if it is the possibly the end of an allée couverte with an end cell, or some other type of passage grave like there are around here.
Dolmen de Penquer-Bloas
Trip No.203 Entry No.468 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4
Dolmen de Penquer-Bloas submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. Sometimes described as an allée couverte, this looks to me to be a simple dolmen still mostly within its mound, but it is unsure exactly what this was originally.
It's in a little woodland area, beside an industrial stoneworking site, so its possibly lucky it has survived at all.
It suffers badly from neglect, and has lots of rubbish strewn around.
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Log Text: Although I have seen this described as an allée couverte, it looks to me to be a simple dolmen still mostly within its mound. It is unsure what this monument was originally. It's in a little woodland area, beside the road by an industrial stoneworking site. It suffers badly from neglect, and has lots of rubbish strewn around.
Kerugou dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.469 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Kerugou dolmen submitted by minteddy on 5th Dec 2006. 3 - 4 km east of Troenen in Penmarch south west Finisterre.
View from west looking east down the length of the passage. The concrete pillar supporing the cap stone has gone.
On mappy.com enter place Kerugou, postcode 29120. View aerial photo at street level and about 200 metres north west of post code address (on aerial photo it is at south east corner of mini triangular village green) you'll see dolmen by different colour in field to north west of mini triangular village green.
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Log Text: Kerugou dolmen is an interesting one, which can be found just inside a field beside a small road and signposted. It has a large compartmented chamber at the back, western end, with a long central passageway opening up to the east, at orientation 097°. The central passage is about 9 metres long and up to 2m in width away from the entrance. The two side chambers align along the back wall, and are each 3m by 2.5m, with some massive side slabs. Unfortunately, there is only one capstone still in place, and that is on the entrance passageway, but it's a nice monument to discover. Much of its mound is still in place.
Presqu'île de la Torche
Trip No.203 Entry No.470 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4
Presqu'île de la Torche submitted by thecaptain on 18th May 2009. The remains of what would no doubt have once been a magnificent monument, is positioned on top of this little headland, almost an island, sticking dramatically out into the wild Atlantic Ocean, and surrounded by magnificent surf beaches.
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Log Text: The remains of what would no doubt have once been a magnificent monument, positioned on top of this little, almost an island, headland, sticking dramatically out into the wild Atlantic Ocean, and surrounded by magnificent surf beaches.
The central passage is still 16 metres in length, running up and over the top of the mound, curving as it goes, and opening to the east. At the west end there is an upright end stone. On the top of the mound, a few metres in from the end stone, are two side chambers each about 3 metres by 1.5 metres, one of which still has capstones in place, although it is all much ruined. Considering the concrete all around, for wartime bunkers and lookout posts, and for tourist paths and observation tables, it is surprising anything has survived here - that so much has is incredible. There is possible some remnants of a second chamber up here too.
The most wonderful thing about this place is the situation. The surf is crashing in all around the end of the point, and the waves rolling by on both sides of the headland in this surfers paradise. Its a fantastic place to sit and watch the waves go by. I love it. It makes me want to go surfing again. I bet I could still do it. They are even playing Camel's "Snow Goose" in the bar at the car park. Now if that isn't meaningful......
Penhors stèle
Trip No.203 Entry No.471 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5
Penhors stèle submitted by thecaptain on 21st Dec 2006. This fantastic sculpted and grooved (cannelée) iron age stèle can be seen in the front garden of a home at Penhors, and is a good 4 metres tall.
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Log Text: This is a fantastic grooved and sculpted (cannelée) iron age stèle I saw in a front garden of a home I was passing at Penhors. It is almost perfectly shaped, round with grooves running up the sides, and tapered towards the top, which is a good 4 metres above the ground. This superb stèle was found fallen in a nearby hedge and re-erected in the garden. The granite from which it is made has originally come from at least 5 kilometres away.
Corn-ar-Palud
Trip No.203 Entry No.472 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4
Corn-ar-Palud submitted by thecaptain on 9th Mar 2007. In the dunes near the edge of the beach at the almost deserted centre of Audierne Bay, can be found the remains of a cairn with a few large rocks to be seen scattered around in it.
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Log Text: Beside the little road running along the coast around the almost deserted centre of Audierne Bay, just on the edge of the beach in the dunes, can be found the remains of a cairn with a few large rocks to be seen scattered around in it. Looking closer at some of these larger rocks, there is evidence of a chamber underneath one capstone. Obviously once upon a time this was a fairly complex place, probably a cairn with several dolmenic chambers within it, similar to many other places in this far southwestern tip of Brittany.
This really is a splendid place, with the surf rolling in creating its own mist and covering the land in clouds. Amazing.
Menhir des Droits de l'Homme
Trip No.203 Entry No.473 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Menhir des Droits de l'Homme submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2006. This large menhir was erected here and inscribed in 1840 to commemorate the shipwreck of the "Droits de l'Homme" in 1797 with the loss of around 600 lives.
The stone is a real menhir moved here from elsewhere. It's next to a car park besides this phenomenal beach, with the surf pounding in all around, creating its own fog !
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Log Text: This is a large menhir erected here in 1840 to commemorate the shipwreck of the "Droits de l'Homme" in 1797 with the loss of around 600 lives. The stone used was once a real menhir moved to here from elsewhere. It's at the edge of a car park besides this phenomenal beach, with the surf pounding in all around, creating its own fog !
Pors Poulhan allée couverte
Trip No.203 Entry No.474 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5
Pors Poulhan allée couverte submitted by thecaptain on 16th May 2009. The information board at Pors Poulhan allée couverte.
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Log Text: On a headland overlooking the Baie D'Audierne, this allée couverte is in a tremendous position. The 12 metre long passage is quite large and wide at almost 2 metres in width, and almost as high, and lines up to the east at 100°.
Built before the year 3000BC, it has been used almost continually for one purpose or another until the present day. Excavations have shown it to have not only been constructed and used by neolithic flint workers, but also for burials in the bronze age, iron age, and by the Gallo-Romans. In the middle ages it was used as a quarry for building stone, and since then it has been used as a military look out post, and as such was blown up during the second world war.
Restoration was made in about 1990, with it now in a nicely kept little grassy area with benches and an information board. Two capstones are in place, as is a lot of floor paving, but the unusual thing for around here is that it still has many of the stones from its surrounding peristalith. This is a nice place to sit and ponder.