Prunarède Dolmen

Trip No.205  Entry No.157  Date Added: 11th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Hérault (34))
Visited: Yes on 18th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: I thought that this was going to be an easy find, but not so. Take the road north from Saint-Maurice-Navacelles towards the Cirque de Navacelles. After several kilometres you come to the ruined farmhouse of Prunarède, at a couple of sharp bends in the road. Park here, and walk along the footpath which starts behind the farm for 800 metres until the path runs out. Easy so far. The dolmen should be there, at the end of the path. Not so easy now. Where does the path end ? and what is path and what is sheeptrack ?

I eventually found the dolmen, I had walked way past expecting it to be obvious, but it wasnt. It is well hidden in the bushes, to the right of where I had walked. Its a smashing dolmen, still with a cairn around it encircled with larger slabs of stone. The chamber is 3.5 metres long, between 1.5 and 2 metres wide, and formed with two side slabs leaning inwards onto a front and back stone. These are all fitted together so well, that even after 5000 years, there's not much more than an inch gap anywhere. There is no way into the chamber except to get a look through a gap under the capstone from one side. The capstone sits nicely on top of three of the four stones. I cannot tell where the entranceway would have been, or which is front and back.

Unfortunately, there are remnants from a fence which had been built around it in the past, in the form of a square of stones around the chamber on top of the cairn, and the remains of iron railings. The views from here would be tremendous if the scrub was cut back, but are however very limited.

Serre de la Gleisa

Trip No.205  Entry No.158  Date Added: 15th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Take the road towards Blandas from Montdardier, and after a few kilometres there is a big junction of ways. On the left, 100 metres or so before the junction, up the hill, can be seen this menhir, perhaps 100 metres from the road and well fenced in, so I couldn't get to it. It looks about 2.5 metres tall, and slab shaped.

Planàs Dolmen

Trip No.205  Entry No.159  Date Added: 15th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Take the road towards Blandas from Montdardier, and after a few kilometres there is a big junction of ways. Right at the junction in a little enclosure to the right of the road can be found this nicely restored dolmen. It is completely within its cairn, and the fence is close, which makes photos difficult. The mound is about 12 metres in diameter and 2 metres high. The chamber in the centre is mostly made of dry stone walls, but with a large slab at the back, and topped by a 3 m by 2.5 m capstone, on top of the same sized chamber. There is an entry passageway about 5 metres long, and half a metre wide, which opens to the southwest at 235°.

Menhir de Planàs

Trip No.205  Entry No.160  Date Added: 15th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Near the entry to the Planàs Dolmen, and laying on the tumulus, is a lovely fallen menhir, which possibly acted as a marker. Its about 2 metres long and 1 metre wide, and a lovely almond shaped stone. Pity it hasn’t been stood up when the dolmen restoration was done.

Planàs cromlech

Trip No.205  Entry No.161  Date Added: 15th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 1 Access 5

Log Text: Destroyed many years ago during construction of the road, just a few stumps and fallen stones of this cromlech remain scattered around near the junction. What was once a fine stone circle is now just a large road junction in the middle of nowhere.

Lacam de Peyrarines

Trip No.205  Entry No.162  Date Added: 15th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Take the road towards Blandas from Montdardier, and after a few kilometres there is a big junction of ways. About 600 metres down the road towards Blandas from the junction, and in the field to the right can be seen this tremendous cromlech.

This is a proper circle of stones, with 52 standing stones up to about 1.8 metres high making a circle of about 120 metres diameter. At the centre is a large menhir, well over two metres high. There are gaps in the circle, and several more stones which were possibly part of the circle are laying down. The stones which make up the circle are all different shapes and sizes, of this fragile and pockmarked limestone. There are tall thin ones, big rectangular stumps, short squat blocks, diamonds, triangles, slanted top stones and a few almonds.

Just sat at the centre of this circle looking at all the stones around me it feels wonderful. One of the stones has like a giant finger pointing upwards. One of them is full of holes (number 35 in my counting !). Most of them are very evenly spaced, but it is not all that way. This really is a special place. Most of the stones are of the local crumbly flaky pale limestone, but not all, as a few of the large stones are a dark brown gritty sort of rock.

Menhir de Landre 1

Trip No.205  Entry No.163  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 19th Sep 2005

Log Text: From the Planas junction, take the small road towards Le Landre. After a couple of kilometres, just after passing over the brow of a hill, and you can see this menhir up on top of its little hillock, about 70 metres to the left of the road. It was all well fenced in when I visited, behind a little cropped field, so I couldn't get to the stone. It looks about 2.5 metres tall, and leans at quite an angle. Splendid views from here to the north, and the Cevennes.

Menhir de Landre 2

Trip No.205  Entry No.164  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 19th Sep 2005

Log Text: About 100 metres to the south of Landre menhir 1, atop the adjacent hillock can be found this fallen menhir. As for menhir 1, this was too well fenced in, and I didn't get to visit it.

Arques Dolmen

Trip No.205  Entry No.165  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen can be found just to the left of the road west from Planas towards Le Quintanel, turning left just before you reach Le Landre and continuing for about a kilometre until you pass the brow of a hill.

The remains of this fairly large dolmen are just off the road, and still mostly within a fairly large tumulus. The back stone and two side slabs are in position, but the capstone is dislodged to one side. The chamber is 3 metres long by 2.5 metres wide, and would probably have been large enough to stand in. There is the remains of a 7 metre long by 0.7 metre wide entry passage through the tumulus, which opens, as they all seem to do round here, towards the southwest, at 237°.

Combes Menhir

Trip No.205  Entry No.166  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: About a kilometre further on from the Arques dolmen, and just to the left of the road can be found this superb menhir, which has been re-erected in a concrete base. It stands 3 metres tall, and is made of the most wonderfully weathered piece of limestone, full of holes and divots, with moss and lichens growing everywhere. It is quite a character.

Avernat menhir

Trip No.205  Entry No.167  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: This fine chap stands proudly at the junction of the roads D.158 and D.158a from Blandas to Le Landre and Quintanelles, just a couple of hundred metres from its neighbour, the menhir de Combes. It is very similar in both size and shape, 3 metres tall, except this one is not so superbly weathered. I am not sure whether it is in its original place here at the road junction or not.

Lacam de la Rigalderie

Trip No.205  Entry No.168  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the south of the D.843 road between Blandas and Rigalderie, slightly to the west of what looks like a little airstrip, the remains of this lovely cromlech can be found on the slopes rising to a little hilltop. Unlike Lacam de Peyrarines, this one has a little parking area and a gated path to the cromlech, which is about 200 metres from the road across a field.

The circle is about 90 metres in diameter, and I counted 36 stones, either standing or fallen, with 20 or so properly standing upright. There are probably a few more stones in the lower part of the circle which is enveloped in bushes and undergrowth, where the circle seems to be embanked. Most of the stones are of the pale local limestone, but again as with Lacam de Peyrarines, one or two are of a brownish coloured stone. The height varies from half a metre to about 1.8 metres, except for a beautiful stone at the uppermost part of the circle which is about 2.5 metres in height, and a lovely shape.

The stones are mostly pillar shaped, but there are one or two triangles and pointy topped stones. The spacing is pretty even, at about 6 metres between stones, similar to Peyrarines. There is no evidence of a central pillar here.

Lacam de la Rigalderie 2

Trip No.205  Entry No.169  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 1 Access 3

Log Text: There is supposedly another stone circle near to the top of the hill, but in a ruinous state. I had a good look around, but with all the bushes and undergrowth growing here near the top of the hill, there was nothing that I could find which could be said to be the remains of a stone circle.

Dolmen de Barral

Trip No.205  Entry No.170  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: At the eastern edge of the hamlet of Barral, built into a wall to the north of the road, across a field, can be seen this little dolmen. The stones are easily visible from the road, although a visit was not really possible.

Flouirac Dolmen

Trip No.205  Entry No.171  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Couldn't find on 19th Sep 2005

Log Text: This dolmen is supposedly about 1.5 kilometres to the east of the hamlet of Barral, and just 25 metres to the nmorth of the road. However, it is so well hidden , that even after exensive searching, I could find no traces of it.

Trivalle menhir

Trip No.205  Entry No.172  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Named Trivalle since Roman times, because it is situated at the junction of three ancient trackways, this menhir stands about 1.7 metres tall, just outside the ancient village of Rogues, on the road west towards Blandas, not far from the church.

Ciste de Lacam

Trip No.205  Entry No.173  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: From the main road passing the village of Rogues, take the dirt track leading northwest from near the electrical transformer, opposite the road to the village. After 300 metres walking down this track, there is a little mound on the right side, of which the centre has been dug out. Inside can be seen the slab stone remains of a central burial cist. Probably never a full dolmen, but maybe a later iron age burial. None of the slabs are more than 50cm in length.

Lacam de Rogues 1

Trip No.205  Entry No.174  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: From the main road passing the village of Rogues, take the dirt track leading northwest from near the electrical transformer, opposite the road to the village. After 300 metres walking down this track, there is a little mound on the right side, of which the centre has been dug out. To the other side of the track here are the remains of the first Cromlech de Rogues. There is not much here to be seen, but there are a few larger lumps of stone laying around, and with an eye of faith, an arc can possibly be made out with some of them.

Lacam de Rogues 2

Trip No.205  Entry No.175  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Yes on 19th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 3

Log Text: From the main road passing the village of Rogues, take the dirt track leading northwest from near the electrical transformer, opposite the road to the village. Walk about 600 metres along this track, always keeping to the right when there is a choice. There is then a little cultivated field in the valley to the right, go around this and to the top of the higher ground beyond it, and continue for another 300 metres.

At the highest point is a little tree growing, with the central pillar for this cromlech standing beside it. This central pillar is the only stone of this circle still standing, and it is not much more than a metre high. The circle of stones around it is about 90 metres in diameter, and there are many stones remaining, but all fallen and crumbling, as is the wont of this fragile pale limestone. I would imagine there to be bits of at least 30 stones still in evidence, most of them being in the northern half of the circle. The southern half is practically barren, and there has been a wall, or field clearance line of stones created where a big one of the circle would have been.

Apart from the cold wind blowing across this plateau, the clouds have now mostly cleared, and it is becoming a clear blue sky with great visibility. It really is special up here, with magnificent views all around over the Causse, with hills and mountains in the distance all around. The Cevennes to the north look particularly enchanting in the low golden sunlight.

Oppidum de la Blacarède

Trip No.205  Entry No.176  Date Added: 24th Nov 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Languedoc:Gard (30))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 19th Sep 2005

Log Text: Just to the northeast of the village of Rogues is a large rounded hill with remains of an Oppidum on the top.