Roche-aux-Fées (Essé)

Trip No.204  Entry No.324  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Small notes only for this very well known and popular site, which I was originally thinking of saving to be my last megalithic visit of my whole 6 month tour. First thoughts, Aaaaarrrrrgghhhh, it's busy. And you pay to get in. Aaaarrrgghhhhh. Never mind, I have to see it. I decided not to take my book with me and write much, I'll just go and have a look and take some photographs.

OK, it wasn't so bad as I first thought. After I had been here a while, most of the people had gone, and it was in fact free entry, but with a little shop and information shed you have to go through first. In fact, it's not a bad place at all. In actual fact, it's a truly fantastic place. It is really beautiful when not overrun by people.

It is a massive Angevin dolmen, 20 metres long by almost 5 metres wide and 2 metres high. The main chamber is divided into four sections by three internal upright slabs. The entrance porchway is about 3 metres long, and fronted by the most lovely portico, consisting of two uprights and a lintel of carefully worked and positioned stone. It is truly awesome. This is definitely one to visit - but try not to come when everyone else has !

Pierre-Fritte (Jumallene)

Trip No.204  Entry No.321  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: To the south of the village of Préviere along the D.6 road, and after a couple of kilometres is a signpost to Pierre Fritte. From there it's about 500 metres walk along the farm track, taking the left turn at the crossing of tracks. It's a very nice menhir, 5.2 metres tall and shaped so that it is flat on the eastern face and pointed at the top. It has also been Christianised or vandalised, according to your viewpoint, with a cross carved with an inscription, and a niche carved with a china virgin placed inside. Both of these alterations are on the menhirs flat face. An appalling bit of metal grill has been very crudely bolted over the niche, presumably to protect from vandalism the statue of the virgin. It's all a bit of a shame really, its completely spoiled what would have otherwise been a splendid menhir.

Pierre de Richebourg

Trip No.204  Entry No.323  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: I could initially find no evidence of this stone, looking for it from the east, and thought that it is probably somewhere in the fenced off woodland grounds of the big house on the top of the hill. Further investigation from the north, the D.41 road to Retiers, and I found a trackway which takes you to right besides it, and it is signposted.

The menhir is behind the fence, beside a pond. The stone is about 3 metres tall by 3 metres wide, and looks fairly much just like a big lump of rock. Very difficult to photograph, with not only the fence in the way, but also the dark from being within the woodland.

Champ Des Louères Menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.322  Date Added: 16th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 13th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Well signposted from the village of Saint-Aubin-Des-Châteaux, these lead to a parking area beside the sports centre, from where the menhir is a walk of a few hundred metres. It's a very big stone, 3.5 metres tall, 3 metres wide and over a metre thick, and it lives in a field beside the trackway. There are a couple of intriguing round holes/niches within it, but I don't know whether these are natural or have been cut.

Pierre a Sacrifice (Putifay)

Trip No.204  Entry No.320  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Near to the dolmen de Putifaie, and right beside the road can be found this stone once thought to be a sacrificial stone. It's now known that the grooves and channels in the stone are the result of it being used to polish axes and other implements. I have to say that I couldn't see anything much in the way of polishing surfaces, the various shapes in the stone looked more natural to me. Perhaps the polishing grooves are under the tree roots etc which are growing on one side of the stone.

Dolmen de la Petifaie

Trip No.204  Entry No.319  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: This is on private property in a dense woodland beside the road, and is well fenced off.

Pierre du Coq polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.315  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around. The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports.

One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge. These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Baugé Polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.313  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Right outside the front of the chateau, in the town square, can be found this nice polissoir stone, which was found in the forests to the east of the town, and is now proudly on display. The stone itself is a 2.5m by 1.5 m lump, and on the top surface are two large grooves, and many flat polishing surfaces. In fact, pretty much the whole stone is polished smooth. Excellent !

Molieres Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.316  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This little dolmen can be found to the west of the village of Beauvau, which has a little map with the dolmen marked on it. When you find the track to the dolmen (beware, the village detail map is rotated from the full map!) there is a signpost pointing to it. Its then about a 500 metre walk, and at the top of the windblown hill, hiding under a tree in a field, and with a little wellhouse beside it.

The dolmen is pleasant, with a 4m by 2m chamber topped by a nicely eroded and bowled capstone, 5m by 3m. The present entry is probably not the original, but there because the backstone has fallen, which is at the northwest. The original entry was probably to the SE, but its hard to tell. Many other stones lay about, perhaps it was once much bigger.

Pierre du Coq et la Poule

Trip No.204  Entry No.314  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: It's hard to know exactly what to make of this site. Marked on the maps as a menhir, there are actually two stones standing upright, and beside them a large flat slab, with a few other bits and pieces laying around.

The larger of the two standing stones is 3 metres tall and slab form, 2 metres wide and 0.5 m thick. The second stone, 2 m from it, is 1.8 metres high and is basically a large upward pointed lump, rectangular in section. Directly in this line, about 3 metres distant, is a large slab, 6m by 4m. This is possibly just naturally there, but it wouldnt surprise me if it was once the capstone of a dolmen - there are other stones around it which could have been supports. One thing is for sure, and that is it is a polissoir stone, it has several grooves and a couple of basins in its southern top edge.

These stones are fairly easily found, about 500 metres down a forest track into the Baugé forest, reached from a parking area near to a farm called Les Rochelettes, just to the northeast of the village of Echemire.

Maison des Fées (Miré)

Trip No.204  Entry No.318  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Just at the northern edge of the village of Miré, just off the main D.27 roadnorth, and beside a little side road can be found this dolmen. It's a tall dolmen with a single capstone covering a squarish chamber of about 3 metres dimension, and over 2 metres tall. With it being right at the side of the road, it cant be sure that it's not been altered at all, and there are some rather large gaps in the stones. There are 4 support stones, two of them being large slabs, the other two fairly slender.

La Pierre Couverte de la Planche

Trip No.204  Entry No.308  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the west of Broc, along the D.138 road towards Chigné, an after about 800 metres this dolmen can be seen in the middle of the field to the north. I went to Broc hoping for a map, but saw nothing, so was lucky to find this. The dolmen is left in a little unploughed area which has recently been cleared of undergrowth and bushes, but it is also unfortunately used for field clearance stones.

There is a single capstone, 2.5 metres roundish shape, sitting on top of a single long slab on the south side, and two side supports to the north. It is possibly the remains of an allée couverte. A pleasure to find this at the start of the day after a bad evening.

Pierre Cesée

Trip No.204  Entry No.317  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Although it looks a bit difficult to get to, this dolmen is actually very easy to visit, either by driving down the little trackway to the parking area right by it (which is signposted from the road), or by walking along the path along the banks of the river Loir. Its about a kilometre to the west of Seiches-sur-le-Loir as the crow flies, but not so straight forward by vehicle. The dolmen sits on the flood plain of the river Loir, which is just 150 metres distant, and is in a tremendous little spot.

Unfortunately, as is nearly always the case, it has suffered from vandalism in the form of graffitti and fires. The dolmen is a large Angevine dolmen, with its main chamber a rectanglar 8 metres by 4 metres, oriented 075° and high enough to stand up in. The single massive capstone is now unfortunately cracked into two pieces, as is the massive side slab on the south side. The north side has two large stones, and there is the usual single backstone. The porchway entrance, as is often the case, is a bit damaged and destroyed, there being only one front stone to the chamber, and one standing entranceway stone. The other is laying broken nearby, and there is no capstone.

I was thinking of not even trying to find this, as it looks a bit out of the way. Very glad I did, all thanks, as is so often the case, to looking at the 1:25,000 maps in the local supermarket !

Pierre Couverte (Pontigné)

Trip No.204  Entry No.312  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 12th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a very pleasant find. It's well signposted from the village of Pontigné, a couple of kilometres to the west along the D.171 Rue Des Megalithes, and appears on the village plan with a photograph. This is most unusual in these parts where most are very hard, if not impossible to find. Once at the dolmen, its a 400 metre walk along a footpath through the forest from the road.

The dolmen itself is a very nice Angevin style allée couverte, sat in a little clearing in the forest and well tended by the local community. The main chamber is rectangular, 5 metres by 3 metres internal dimensions, not quite tall enough to stand upright in. There are two large capstones on top of two southern side slabs, one large northern one (and a gap), with one large backstone and the two closing front stones still nicely in place. The porchway entrance is still pretty much intact, and is 2.5 metres long by 1.5 metres wide, and still topped by its capstone. The chamber of course opens to the east, with a bearing of about 080°.

As is so often the case, it has suffered from graffitti and fires, with lots of broken bottles laying about. Such a shame.

Dolmen du Moulin à Vent

Trip No.204  Entry No.309  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: I found the old windmill to the northeast of Broc, but saw no signs of any dolmen.

L'Aurière menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.310  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: This menhir is by the little picnic area at the place where I was stopped from turning by another car going into there.

Dolmen de Laurière

Trip No.204  Entry No.311  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Couldn't find on 12th Aug 2005

Log Text: Probably what was under that tree and those bushes in the lump in the middle of the field where I was trying to find the menhir.

La Grotte aux Fées

Trip No.204  Entry No.299  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This fine dolmen can be found just to the north of the village of Mettray. Follow the road beside the sports stadium along the railway line for about a kilometre, and it is in a bunch of trees across a field to the right, down a little track and with a parking area. It's a large monumentwith a main chamber about 10 metres long by4 metres wide, with three large capstones sitting on top of three side slabs each side, and a single large backstone. The central capstone is massive, and is almost 2 metres thick on the south side. The chamber faces almost due east at 095°, and there is one stone standing, and one fallen stone in place of what is most likely an Angevin porchway. At the back of the first set of stones, there is an internal stone dividing the chamber into two parts, as is often the case with these large chambers. It is a shame, but as is often the case with these nocely presented dolmens, it is much abused, and suffers from the usual collection of broken beer bottles, graffitti(lots of heavy metal stuff in this case) and bonfires, one of which has obviously been lit inside the entry chamber and made a horrible mess. Just what is up with these people ? Although the double ring of trees around the dolmen make for a nice shady area, they do prevent decent photographs from being taken.

Gobiane Menhir

Trip No.204  Entry No.304  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Sarthe (72))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 2

Log Text: This was a difficult one to find. Halfway between the villages of Flée and Chahaignes is a track south from the D.255 road up to Gobianne farm. I parked and walked up the track for at least 800 metres, and eventually I saw the menhir in a field up on the hillside. The field is well ditched, fenced and hedged, and there was no way in. The best I got was a long distance photo.

Its a big menhir, I would estimate over 4 metres tall. When you know where it is, it can actually be seen from the road, up on the skyline to the south at the top of the hill. Nice.

Now I can see the ign 1:25,000 map, there is another menhir nearby, much nearer to the road about half a kilometre to the northwest of the Gobianne menhir.

Pierre Levée (La Grange)

Trip No.204  Entry No.303  Date Added: 12th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 11th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This is a large upright slab, 3.5 metres high and 3 metres wide, in a field overlooking a stream. Beside it are a few more large slabs, but they don’t look like they have broken off the top, although it is possible. It's a lovely limestone sort of slab, and looks like holes have been drilled into it in places, perhaps in an attempt to break it up.

I only found this at the second attempt, along the track from near La Grange farm from the west, after completely failing to even find the track from the east by the railway bridge, as fishing ponds have been made all along the valley.