Menhir de la Croix Carrée (Landigou)

Trip No.205  Entry No.2  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Yes on 29th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Looking for a menhir marked on my map, I could find nothing, so asked a lady walking her dog, and she directed me to this roadside cross. It has a historic monument signpost, which states that it is a megalithic monument of unknown origin. About 1.2 metres tall, it is of square section, with large crosses carved into each face, joining each other around the corners. Perhaps it was once a menhir, perhaps once an iron age stele. Its hard to tell. But it is not the menhir I was looking for !

Menhir d'Outres

Trip No.202  Entry No.55  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Couldn't find on 1st May 2005

Log Text: Marked on my map pretty much near the centre of the village of Joué-de-Bois but I failed to find this menhir.

Menhir dit la Droite Pierre (Chênedouit)

Trip No.202  Entry No.58  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Couldn't find on 1st May 2005

Log Text: Stupidly I forgot to look for this 2.3 metre high menhir to the west of the village in my rush to get to the Pierre de Gargantua.

Trun menhir

Trip No.202  Entry No.66  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Couldn't find on 2nd May 2005

Log Text: There is a menhir somehow incorporated into a southern corner of the church tower of this village where I stopped right by it to buy food and look at the village maps. How stupid I was to miss this one forgetting its existence only while I was there. Its why I went there ! Guess the lateness of getting my lunch was taking its toll.

Menhir de Boulay-Filleul

Trip No.202  Entry No.74  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 2nd May 2005

Log Text: A menhir in woodland visible just to the west side of the road to L’Aigle a couple of kilometres south of the village. As is becoming typical of round here there is nowhere at all to park on a very busy road. Those damned Normadie ditches alongside all the roads. Couldn’t stop to take a picture and it took miles before I was able to turn round and have another look on the way back.

Landigou Menhir

Trip No.205  Entry No.1  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Couldn't find on 29th Aug 2005

Log Text: Looking for this menhir marked on my map, I could find nothing

La Haute Pierre (St-Pierre-Eglise)

Trip No.201  Entry No.14  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: In a field to the northeast of St-Pierre-Eglise can be seen this large menhir, almost 3 metres in height. It is probably possible to get to fairly nearby, but it would have meant walking through an absolute stinking swamp caused by cattle at the field gateway. So I satisfied myself with a long distance view from the higher road beside a small chapel, a distance of about 100 metres for my photograph.

Pierre Plantée (Cosqueville)

Trip No.201  Entry No.15  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In a field to the south of the road running east out of Cosqueville can be seen this large menhir, 3 metres in height. It is possible to park nearby, and I walked round the edge of a field to get a nearer view of the stone which is in the middle of a field beside a quarry. It is a nicely shaped stone, looking to be wider at the top than the bottom, with a sort of nob on the top, and with grooves running down its sides, probably due to rain erosion.

Pierre au Rey

Trip No.201  Entry No.18  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Perched high on the cliff top near Cap de Flamanville can be found this strange antiquity, situated in the small garden behind a café, right on the cliff edge. Easily found to the west of Flamanville, just follow signs to “Semaphore” and where the road runs out there is a car park and picnic site as well as the café.

It consists of four large rounded rocks, and doesn’t look like any other dolmen I have ever seen. At first, the rocks look like natural big rounded pebbles, in some kind of pile, but how did they get there like that ? Closer inspection reveals several other stones on the landward side, obviously placed in their position, which would have at one point formed some kind of entranceway to the main chamber, which consists of three large rocks forming a triangular shape, with the fourth rock balanced on top.

A couple of the large rocks have carvings on them, including a human form on the top boulder, but it is unknown as to whether these carvings are ancient or from more modern times, when it was used as a lookout point by the customs men. Some theories suggest that this is not a dolmen in the usual sense of the word, but some kind of ancient seagoing navigational mark.

There were in years gone past, other megalithic monuments in this area, in the form of large menhirs now destroyed, but of which the names and records survive. One of these called La Pierre-aux-Serpents, was 9 metres in height, but was destroyed around 1725 during construction of the chateau. Another, to the southeast at Percaillerie, was 5 metres in height but destroyed in 1890. It is also thought that there may once have been another of these cliff top dolmens at Corb to the north, destroyed before 1880 and of which no trace remains today under the nuclear power station.

Bretteville Allée Couverte

Trip No.201  Entry No.10  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: To the southeast of Bretteville, just a few miles east of Cherbourg, can be found the Allée Couverte de Bretteville, also known as “La Sepulture a Entrée Laterale de Bretteville-en-Saire”. It is clearly signposted from the D.901 road, and has its own little field and car park.

About 16 metres in length, it runs in a NW - SE direction with internal width and height about a metre, and has seven capstones still in place. The entrance is to the side of the allée at the south near the southeast end, and this leads in to a lovely portal holed doorstone blocking off the major northern part of the chamber. The southeast end of the monument has several lateral slabs radiating outwards from the main structure.

A very nice monument to visit, but it’s a pity about the rubbish and graffiti from which it suffers.

La Longue Pierre (St-Pierre-Eglise)

Trip No.201  Entry No.13  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In a field beside a small lane to the north of St-Pierre-Eglise can be found this large menhir. It is signposted from the larger road running north towards Cosqueville, but I found nowhere to park up the small lane, so had to return to the larger road to park and then walk the few hundred metres back to the stone.

It is a very large stone, which stands at 4.2 metres high, perhaps the largest menhir remaining standing in Manche today. It is of roughly square section with an angled top. It is about 50 metres into a field beside the lane, and although many people had obviously been in to have a closer look, there was a sign requesting nobody enters the field, so I just looked from the gate.

Grande et Petite Pierre

Trip No.201  Entry No.11  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: In a grassy area on high ground at the northwest end of Cherbourg Maupertus airport can be found these two lovely and massive menhirs made of a sort of puddingstone slab. Originally these large menhirs were related to a large burial tumulus, but during the second world war this tumulus and the stones were flattened to make way for the airfield.

In fairly recent times, the two large stones have been recovered and re-erected just outside the perimeter of the airport for all to see and enjoy. La Grande Pierre stands at 4 metres in height, and is about 2 metres in width at the base tapering to a pointed top. La Petite Pierre is very rectangular in shape, and stands at about 2.5 to 3 metres tall, although it looks to me like the top has been broken off.

Autel des Druides des Moitiers d'Allonne

Trip No.201  Entry No.19  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: To the east of Moitiers d'Allonne, just a few miles northeast of Barneville-Carteret, can be found “Autel des Druides des Moitiers d'Allonne”, also known as the Allée Couverte de Grand Breuil. Situated near the top of a hill along a small road north of the D.902, this monument can be found signposted down a farm trackway, but finding anywhere to park in the vicinity was not easy. It is also signposted from the village of Les Moitiers d'Allonne.

Approximately 20 metres in length, and on a north – south axis, this Allée Couverte was rebuilt in the 1960’s after having been partially buried and used as a cattle shelter. The width between the two rows of stones is about 1.5 to 2 metres, and there are at least 6 capstones in place with a height of about 1.5 metres underneath. When I was there, the Northern half of the Allée was clear of vegetation and open to get inside, while the southern half was in a very overgrown state. The surrounding field had been ploughed right up to the edges of the monument, and in some places at the south end damage had occurred.

Petite Roche allée couverte

Trip No.201  Entry No.7  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: In the woods around the village of Rocheville can be found the remains of three Allées Couverte, only one of which is marked on the IGN maps, which is known as the Allée Couverte de la Petite Roche. To the southeast of Rocheville is a wooded area known as Bois de la Grosse Roche, and in the southwest corner of this wood, almost right beside the lane, is found the Allée Couverte de la Petite Roche.

About 20 metres in length, it runs in an east west direction. The width between the stones, of which there would have been about 20 in each row, is between 1 and 1,5 metres, and the height is about the same. At the east end of the allée the end stone remains in place, while at the west end it is open, but with a large stone across the rows about 3 metres distant, possibly a removed roofstone. About 5 cover stones remain in position, in two groups, two near the east end, and the other three nearer to the west end. There are many other stones lying around in the wood, probably some parts of the monument.

Allée couverte du Bois de la Plesse (Nord)

Trip No.201  Entry No.2  Date Added: 19th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 19th Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: On the slopes of Mont Castré to the southwest of the village of Lithaire can be found a little leisure park surrounding a quarry with lake. From the car park, cross the lake and climb the steep path to the top of the quarry before following the path around the top to the right through the woods. After a few hundred metres you reach an open grassy area within which are the remains of two Allées Couverte, not marked on the IGN maps.

The first to be reached, northern, of these is in a very ruined state, with just some large stones of the central chamber remaining, and most of these are fallen. The length of the chamber can be traced for 9 metres, and some of the stones at the east end, including the eastern end stone, remain standing.

Allée couverte du Bois de la Plesse (Sud)

Trip No.201  Entry No.3  Date Added: 19th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 19th Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: On the slopes of Mont Castré to the southwest of the village of Lithaire can be found a little leisure park surrounding a quarry with lake. From the car park, cross the lake and climb the steep path to the top of the quarry before following the path around the top to the right through the woods. After a few hundred metres you reach an open grassy area within which are the remains of two Allées Couverte, not marked on my IGN maps.

About 25 metres to the south of the northern site are the remains of the much better preserved southern Allée Couverte. Most of the side stones remain of a 7 metre long central chamber, including the western end stone, but there are none of the covering slabs. Surrounding this chamber are many smaller stones which were probably facing stones for the covering mound, which today form a couple of parallel rows to the sides of the main chamber. At the eastern side is a nice straight row of these stones running across at right angles to the main chamber, perhaps once forming some kind of entrance arrangement. There are many other stones laying around which probably once formed a part of this monument.

Dolmen du Bois de la Plesse

Trip No.201  Entry No.4  Date Added: 19th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 19th Nov 2004

Log Text: On the slopes of Mont Castré to the southwest of the village of Lithaire can be found a little leisure park surrounding a quarry with lake. From the car park, cross the lake and climb the steep path to the top of the quarry before following the path around the top to the right through the woods. The monuments are said to have only been discovered in 1965, and with all the other stones laying around in the woods and undergrowth in this area, it wouldn’t surprise me if much more remains to be discovered here. In fact, while walking along the path round the top of the quarry, my eye was caught by an arrangement of large boulders piled on top of each other on a small mound. Having a closer look, I suspect that the large boulders owe more to their current position to relatively modern quarrying than anything ancient, but the mound on which they lie is most interestingly surrounded by what look like very old, carefully placed kerbing stones. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this is the remains of another Dolmen of some kind.

The coordinates on my GPS (which was slightly misbehaving with low battery power) for this were N 49.28388, W 001.49166 should anyone want a look. Further to the east on Mont Castré are the remains of a Roman encampment, while a bit to the west is a ruined castle, which go to demonstrate the importance of this hill as a place of settlement right through history.

On a further visit here I was not so sure that this was an ancient dolmen this time round, although the circular surrounding stones were still looking like something not natural Perhaps thing as a result of quarrying?

Fort Joret allée couverte

Trip No.201  Entry No.16  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Nov 2004. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In a field overlooking the sea, with splendid views over the rocky beach, can be found the remains of this very ruinous Allée Couverte. It is about 500 metres along the coast path to the southwest of Fort Joret, in the Commune de Fermanville, just a few miles east of Cherbourg.

Estimated to have originally been about 17 metres in length, it runs in a north to south direction. The northern part of the remains are very ruined, with only a few stones here and there laying on the ground. The southern part of the tomb is in much better, but still very ruined and overgrown condition, and difficult to get to see in detail. The width of this part is much greater than the northern part, of the order 2.5 metres, and several large slabs remain in position.

Tumulus de Vierville

Trip No.201  Entry No.1  Date Added: 19th Mar 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Yes on 19th Nov 2004. My rating: Access 1

Log Text: Try as I might, early in the morning on the way to my sisters from the ferry, by driving up and down every lane and farm track around the village, I couldn’t find any sign of this, despite it being highlighted as a tourist place on the IGN maps. I asked a chap passing on his way to work on a bike if he knew anything of it with no luck, and also an old couple herding cows from one field to another, who said they had lived there all their lives but had also never heard of it. They seemed very intrigued as to what an Englishman was doing in their village asking for a monument and pointing at something on a map. It must have made their day, but it didn’t help me in any way.

After taking a last guess and driving half a mile up a muddy track to the top of a nearby hill, and walking round all the woodland on the top, all I could find was a couple of interested donkeys. An hour had now gone by, and it was time to get on. Not much of a tourist attraction ! Further investigation using more detailed local maps showed the tumulus positioned right opposite the road junction by the church. If accurate, this meant that the tumulus was either in the garden of a large house, or in a nearby farmyard.

Passing near by the site on the way back to the ferry, I stopped off for another look round, this time knowing where to look. There was absolutely no sign of anything to be seen in any farmyards unless it has been covered with either a barn or a dungheap. This left the only place for it to be as in the walled in garden of the large house pictured, which had absolutely no places to look through. I could find nobody around to ask, and didn’t want to just go and call at a perhaps random private house, so had to give up again. It wouldn’t surprise me if it is positioned somewhere under the trees to be seen in the walled garden.

Once home, lots of painstaking research on the internet has revealed nothing more than that it is on private land. Its gotta be in that walled garden. Or is it ?

Les Cartesières

Trip No.202  Entry No.18  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Manche (50))
Visited: Couldn't find on 24th Apr 2005

Log Text: This T shaped gallery grave is the only one of this kind surviving in Normandy and is to be found in a zoo park near to the village. However on the day of my visit this park was well and truly shut and looked like it hadn’t been open in many years and was becoming very decrepit. No chance of getting in to see the monument.

Later note. Having seen the 1:25000 ign map of the area the dolmen is marked beside the little lane which runs down to the lakes along the western edge of the park. In fact its probably almost exactly where I stopped and had a look around to see if I could spot anything. If I am in the area again I will know where to look.