Dolmen de la Mérindole

Trip No.205  Entry No.203  Date Added: 29th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Provence:Bouches-du-Rhône (13))
Visited: Couldn't find on 22nd Sep 2005

Log Text: I could not find this dolmen or hypogae, there are lots of private property signs all around, although not the big fences this time.

Dolmen de la Motte

Trip No.204  Entry No.89  Date Added: 16th Jul 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Just to the east of the village of Chemellier, and actually signposted from it, this dolmen is about 800 metres walk from where the road runs out, and just inside the forest. While I was there, there were a couple of deer mooching around nearby, and also a wasps nest inside the dolmen. Beware ! Until today, I would have called this a massive dolmen, but how things change - it looks quite small now ! It's a typical rectangular Angevine dolmen with the chamber about 4 metres by 3 metres, and standing up height inside. The entrance is to the east, but broken and largely non existant above ground level. The back stone has also fallen, leaving the broken in two pieces capstone just sitting on the large side slabs.

Dolmen de la Nivardière 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.285  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the northeast of the centre of the village of Tripleville, about 100 metres into the first field out of the village along the D.137 road, can be found the Nivardière dolmen and its associated menhir about 80 metres further on.

The dolmen is very complete for round here, with a 4m by 3m capstone sitting on top of a 3m by 2.5m rectangular chamber. The southern side support and the back stone are still complete, while the northern side stones have fallen underneath. It is open towards the east, and faces directly towards the menhir. Unfortunately it is ploughed very close to, and there are marks on some of the stones.

Dolmen de la Nivardière 2

Trip No.204  Entry No.286  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In another part of the field near to the Nivardière menhir and dolmen is a large slab of stone left in an unploughed area. Is this the remains of another dolmen ? This village is very rich in megalithic remains, and it would not surprise me if this was.

Dolmen de la Pagerie

Trip No.204  Entry No.77  Date Added: 16th Jul 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This monster dolmen can be found a few hundred metres up the GR.XX footpath from near the farm of the same name, just to the southwest of Gennes. It is another of the enormous dolmens they have around here, with the main chamber being 10 metres long by 5 metres wide, made using enormous slabs of the sarsen like rock. The whole thing is covered with just two massive capstones, the back one of which is still on top of its three support stones, but the forward one has fallenon the eastern side. The entranceway is still largely in place and opens to the south, looking down the valley, but again its corner stone has fallen to the east. This is another incredible monument that could do with a bit of TLC. It is overgrown, and used as a dumping ground for agricultural waste from the fields around. It looks like there are regular fires inside, which are breaking up the stones in the corner, and I have no doubt that the rear capstone will fall soon, as its side support is broken and cracking. Its incredible when you see how big these things are, and have lasted for so long, its a shame the modern world is ruining them.

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.

Dolmen de la Pierre (Hercé)

Trip No.202  Entry No.25  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 24th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: This small dolmen can be found a few hundred metres to the south of the D33 road turning first left travelling westwards from Hercé. It is a simple dolmen with a large capstone supported by several small uprights in a field just in front of a farmhouse. Access to the dolmen was not available at the time of my visit as it was in a field of young cows but there was a signpost towards it as if it is possible to get to it at other times.

Dolmen de La Pierre Blanche à Bessé 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.37  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Charente (16))
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: A couple of kilometres southwest of the village of Charmé along the D736 the dolmen is signposted along a trackway from the road. Its about half a mile walk to a little wood and the dolmen is within the field of crops adjacent. A large oval shaped capstone almost 2 metres thick sits on several small supports which can just be seen under the capstone amongst the crops. Theres a little noticeboard at the edge of the field which tells about the dolmen and the finds discovered here and as is often the case there is a legend associated to the stones.

Dolmen de la Pierre Couplée

Trip No.202  Entry No.75  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Yes on 2nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: The remains of this dolmen are now within a ploughed field just to the northwest of the village of Ferté Frêsnel on the road to Bocquencé. There is a small signpost to the dolmen but as seems almost always in these parts there is nowhere at all to park.

The dolmen is now very badly looked after ploughed right up to the edges and indeed hit with the machinery in one or two places and covered in muck from muckspreading. The large broken capstone is 4 m by 3 m and there are three collapsed support slabs.

Dolmen de la Pierre Euberte

Trip No.204  Entry No.176  Date Added: 20th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Creuse (23))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 22nd Jul 2005

Log Text: I thought that I perhaps saw this dolmen on its hillside position, but I could find nowhere to park, and saw no obvious way through the houses and fields to get to where I thought it was.

Dolmen de la Pierre Levée (La Vallée)

Trip No.203  Entry No.244  Date Added: 22nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Charente-Maritime (17))
Visited: Yes on 4th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: This is a bit more like it. Signposted to the north of the village of La Vallée, behind the churchyard along Rue du Dolmen, this dolmen is lovingly looked after in a nicely tended little area of grass on its mound amongst some trees.

It seems to be the remains of a large double chambered tomb, the main chamber being about 4 metres by 3.5 metres at the east of the mound, with a massive capstone now on the ground amongst the remains of about 10 or 12 uprights. To the west are what I am guessing is the remains of a secondary chamber, about 2.5 by 3 metres in size, but which now looks like not much more than a wrecked rectangle of stones with a bit of stone in the middle which was possibly part of a capstone.

Dolmen de la Pierre-Pèze

Trip No.203  Entry No.35  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: After a long wet day of driving and getting frustrated by a lack of nice things to see and getting lost in a couple of big towns (Niort Fontenay) I needed this. On the D948 road just to the west of the railway station to the east of Limilonges (where there is lots of space to park) is a large sign to the dolmen which can be found a few hundred metres walk along the woodland path.

It consists of a massive vegetation covered triangular shaped capstone 6 metres in length up to 3 metres in width and a metre thick doing an incredible balancing act held up high on only three supports although there are in total about ten side slabs for the original chamber most of which do not reach the capstone. The chamber would have been oval in shape six metres long and probably about 4 metres in width. All of the stones are of a kind of limestone which shows I am moving into a different kind of region.

The dolmen is positioned in a lovely woodland glade and despite the noise of the busy road and the TGV trains rushing (quietly) by the place is full of birdsong and a nice place to spend some time.

Dolmen de la Pierrelée

Trip No.204  Entry No.103  Date Added: 20th Jul 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the south of Montsoreau, on the hills above the Loire valley can be found this strange dolmen. It was difficult to find and to park nearby, but its close to the Tete Loire cycle route, and signposted about 50 metres into a field under some trees. What's left of this Angevine dolmen is still within a mound, although how ancientthe mound is I wouldn't like to say. But the odd thing is that it has been lived in, and the inside has been rebuilt with stone blocks to allow a doorway and stairs down into it, which are not in the original entrance. It also has a fireplace and a chimney complete with pot, and a water trough. A most odd place.

Dolmen de la Pitchoune

Trip No.205  Entry No.208  Date Added: 29th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Provence:Vaucluse (84))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: A few kilometres to the east of Ménerbes, along the D.103, and to the west of Lacost, the home of the chateau of the Marquis de Sade, can be found this dolmen which has its own signpost. It is right beside the road and below ground level, below an arched bridge type structure of the road.

The dolmen is now sort of built into the terraced hillside, but whether it was originally, or just that the local land has risen - perhaps due to the hillside falling down - I do not know. The 4m by 3m chamber has a large backstone and two portal entry stones, but the sides are of vaulted drystone construction. It is tall enough to stand up inside the chamber below the single large capstone, the back of which is now within the hillside. Whether the whole thing was cut into the ground, or originally built above ground level with a cairn of stones I cannot tell. I assume it was above ground, but the level of soil around it has risen. The chamber looks to have remains of an entry passageway, which would open to the southwest, at about 235°, looking across the valley and up into the Luberon Hills.

The dolmen has at times been used as a storage shed, and with the road right besides, and the terraced land behind, I wouldn't be surprised if it has been much altered. I assume the bridge bit of the road has been built here to protect the dolmen by arching over the top.

Dolmen de la Pointe de Lost Marc'h

Trip No.203  Entry No.497  Date Added: 27th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Just below the big Lostmarc'h headland with the alignements on top, there is a smaller headland which has been defended from the mainland by the creation of two rows of massive banks and ditches protecting it.

On the headland apart from the inevitable remains of a chapel of some sort, there is also what appears to be the remains of some sort of cairn and burial chamber on the top. It wouldnt be unusual for one to be in such a place. There are 6 stones still sticking out of the ground here about 2.5 metres apart from each other, and stumps of others to be seen, which sort of make a rectangle inside a circular cairn.

It is very windblown here today, and misty which is a bit of a shame. The views would be tremendous on a clear day.

Dolmen de la Pointe du Scal

Trip No.203  Entry No.324  Date Added: 4th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Morbihan (56))
Visited: Yes on 10th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This site, nearby the Pierre Blanche, is now marked by the ign as a seperate burial chamber besides the Pierre Blanche menhir.

Trehiguier menhir, La Pierre Blanche, is a large white quartz block found down Allée de Megalithe, and at the left just before the end of the road at a boatyard, or fish factory. It is about 2.5 metres high, and 1.5 metres square at the base. About 10 metres away is a large grey slab with some holes, and many other stones which are the remains of megalithic tomb of some kind.

Dolmen de la Route Vieille

Trip No.205  Entry No.28  Date Added: 19th Oct 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Limousin:Corrèze (19))
Visited: Couldn't find on 1st Sep 2005

Log Text: There is supposed to be a dolmen here, according to my notes, but there is nothing mentioned on any of my maps or on any of the village noticeboards or tourist publicity. Churches, a Chateau and caves are all mentioned, but no dolmen. Perhaps the dolmen is in a different village called Noailles.

Dolmen de la Rouyre

Trip No.205  Entry No.94  Date Added: 5th Nov 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Languedoc:Pyrénées-Orientales 66)
Visited: Yes on 13th Sep 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: High up on this mountain ridge between the villages of Fesluns and Ansignan in Pyrénées-Orientales can be found the remains of this cute little dolmen. I followed signs from Ansignan, but walked because I was not going to get the camper van up the steep, tiny, windy little roads, but a small car would get fairly close. I had no idea how far it was going to be to the dolmen, and perhaps wouldn't have started out had I known in advance. It turned out to be almost an hour brisk uphill walk before I made it to the dolmen.

It's a tiny little thing, just 2 metres in length by 1 metre wide, and a metre high. Two small capstones rest on 3 and 2 side supports, with a back stone and a half height stone at the front. There is evidence of a stone cairn, with encircling larger stones, about 8 metres in diameter. The chamber opens to the southwest at 240°, but perhaps this is the back. Maybe some of the chamber has disappeared, and it is possible that there was an entry corridor towards the southeast, but it is very hard to tell.

Was it worth the couple of hours of steep uphill walk for the visit? yes and no. The views were lovely once up here, and there were some beautiful butterflies to be seen in amongst the vines near the top of the ridge. Apart from driving to a closer position in a small car, it is possible that you could approach this dolmen from the west, which may also make it much easier to find.

Dolmen de la Tâcherie

Trip No.203  Entry No.176  Date Added: 19th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Aveyron (12))
Visited: Couldn't find on 27th May 2005

Log Text: Not much time to spend looking for this before I have to meet Ellie in Millau, so only a quick look to see if its obvious. No way, its well hidden a couple of hundred metres into an oak forest, so so I leave this one for Another to find.

Dolmen de Lann Kerellec

Trip No.203  Entry No.564  Date Added: 3rd Jun 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Bretagne:Côtes-D'Armor (22))
Visited: Yes on 24th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen is situated in somebody's garden, but it can be seen through the fence and over the wall from the roadside. It is probably the remains of an allée couverte.