Celles-sur-Belle menhirs

Trip No.203  Entry No.34  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: After a fairly long struggle to find these which are marked on my ign map I eventually found a sign pointing through the woods to menhirs 180 metres but not very close to the position on the map. The best I found was two big lumps of rock on a hillside which looked very much like they may be natural rocks to me. Its possible there is a third nearby. I could not get a gps fix in the dense woodland.

La Frise Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.33  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Vendée (85))
Visited: Couldn't find on 15th May 2005

Log Text: I could see no signs of this in the flat farmland, nor any signs or other indications

Pierres Folles du Follet

Trip No.203  Entry No.32  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Vendée (85))
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: The Pierres Folle de Follet are two large menhirs both about 3.5 metres tall positioned one each side of a little lane like giant gateposts at the hamlet of the same name just to the south of the D19 a couple of kilometres south of the village of Rosnay.

There is a legend associated with them, which is printed on a little sign nearby, but which I cannot translate adequately. Something about Gargantua playing quoits here, and destroying houses and the flocks, and causing terror in the region. One day, he crushed a dozen sheep while playing near Rosnay, and the sheepdogs got fed up, and threw two quoits back at him, which stuck in the ground here forming the Pierres Folles.

Dolmen dit La Salle des Fées

Trip No.203  Entry No.31  Date Added: 2nd Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 15th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This was not at all like I was expecting to find so either the picture I had previously seen of this is of the wrong place or else this dolmen has had a nasty accident which has increased the remains !

I have to say it looks like a jumble of large rock slabs around a few trees in the middle of a field but it is possible to determine some side slabs and capstones of a long collapsed chamber. It is found just inside a field to the northwest of the D.61 road which goes southeast from Saint Pazanne after a couple of kilometres just before the road crosses the river at Port Faissant. It is signposted and on the ign map.

Prédaire Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.30  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: This much ruined transepted burial mound sits on a clifftop overlooking the sea to the south of the seaside harbour town of Pornic. I had chosen to spend the night at the campsite la Boutinardière and went for an evening stroll for 20 minutes or so northwest along the Sentier des Douarniers coastal footpath past some strange jetties with boat lifts jutting into the sea at the foot of the cliffs before reaching the dolmen as the sun was going down.

The main entrance corridor is about 7 metres long and is orientated on a bearing of 142° which looks directly towards a nearby headland. There are two large transept chambers each about 2.8 m by 1.7 metres in size but only a single smaller end chamber perhaps about 2.2 by 2 metres in size. Strangely situated side on to the slope maybe the shape of the ground has changed significantly over the millennia.

Just up the slop from the remains is a very large stone which is possibly the remains of a large capstone but perhaps just a boulder placed here to prevent vehicles driving down over the remains from the fields above. It was apparently excavated in 1878 with finds from the Neolithic which are now in the Musée Dobrée in Nantes.

Joselière Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.29  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: As soon as I got here this nice quiet place was flooded with people either returning from the beach or a walk along the clifftop. It is superbly positioned in a field about 50 metres from the sea but it’s a shame about the wartime gun emplacement here also. This transepted burial mound has been restored recently and is in fine condition. It consists of a single entrance corridor which faces eastwards on a bearing of 112° with four internal chambers opening up on the sides which are about 2 metres in width and high enough for me to stand up inside. The cairn is very square with sides about 11 metres in length barely bigger than the internal structures and with a nice white quartz stone at the entrance.

Trois Squelettes

Trip No.203  Entry No.28  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3

Log Text: Nearby to the east of the tumulus des Mousseaux are the remains of two more burial mounds of which remains can be seen in various gardens in the vicinity. The large tumulus du Moulin du Motte is these days hardly visible behind a large garden wall and some new holiday homes but a bit further to the west down the lane some large stones can be clearly seen in a garden. These are the remains of the Trois Squelettes tombs three chambers which were once covered by a single large mound.

Moulin du Motte

Trip No.203  Entry No.27  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3

Log Text: Nearby to the east of the tumulus des Mousseaux are the remains of two more burial mounds of which remains can be seen in various gardens in the vicinity. The large tumulus du Moulin du Motte is these days hardly visible behind a large garden wall and some new holiday homes but a bit further to the west down the lane some large stones can be clearly seen in a garden. These are the remains of the Trois Squelettes tombs three chambers which were once covered by a single large mound.

Tumulus Des Mousseaux

Trip No.203  Entry No.26  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: This monument is signposted from all sorts of places and easy to find if approaching from the north but probably not so if coming from the south as the fortified harbour and seaside town of Pornic is a maze of small streets and indeed barred to a campervan. The tumulus is enclosed by houses and reaches right up to the roadside but does have its own little area with a sign telling about it but its all a bit busy and noisy. This is a superbly restored double chambered tomb enclosed in a triple stepped cairn. The two chambers both have double transept (side) chambers and open towards the southwest the southern one being double sided while the northern one is single sided and they are about 9 metres in length. The height of the chambers increases as you enter from about 1.8 metres at the entrance to well over 2.4 metres inside this being achieved because the capstones do not sit adjacent to one another but rest on top of each other as they progress inwards. Excavations showed this tomb to date to about 3500 BC. Obviously once known as the Dolmen des Mousseaux this has been renamed Tumulus des Mousseaux as can be seen on all the multitude of signposts pointing to it which have been changed !

Menhir du Boivre

Trip No.203  Entry No.25  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Couldn't find on 14th May 2005

Log Text: This menhir is supposed to be 3.8 metes tall and nicely shaped but I could not find it. I took both the high road (a gravel track ) and the low road through the farmyard of the same name looking but I didn’t even catch a glimpse of it.

Menhir dit la Pierre Attelée

Trip No.203  Entry No.24  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: A more than 3 metre tall menhir in a clearing in the forest of Attelée amongst the sand dunes to the south of this pleasant seaside town. It was a nice cool lump of granite to find on this warm afternoon.

Pierre de Couche

Trip No.203  Entry No.23  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: In a little enclosure on the opposite side of the busy dual carriageway road from the campsite this stone is just over 2 metres tall in pale granite. It’s a nicely shaped stone but far too enclosed within the houses and noisy.

Les Pierres Couchées

Trip No.203  Entry No.22  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Now incorporated into a campsite of the same name I was expecting to find a fallen menhir. I was told the stone was round the back of the office building but I could not find it initially. Upon my return to the parking area later I found what looked to be some ancient stones right behind my campervan which had hidden them from me originally ! If what I saw was indeed the Pierres Couchées then it looked to me to be more the remains of some sort of burial chamber rather than a fallen menhir.

Rossignols Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.21  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: In amongst the houses in this little seaside town this dolmen has its own plot of land with a picnic area and is signposted from various places in the vicinity. It has obviously been covered over by sand dunes as it is all in a hollow in the ground surrounded by trees. There is a massive capstone 4 by 3 metres and 1 metre thick but this covers only about half of the chamber which is surrounded by upright slabs many of which are still in position part buried in the sand.

Moulin Chevalier Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.20  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: I am not quite sure what to make of this. It is either a fairly undisturbed dolmen still well contained within its mound or else it is a bit of a wreck ! The mound is about 8 metres by 4 metres and is found down a little track left at the edge of a field but there are no signposts. There is possibly a second mound close by.

Plessis Gamat Menhir

Trip No.203  Entry No.19  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Signposted locally this is a lovely pointed pale granite stone about 2.8 metres tall. It is found by going down a little track opposite the electric station then right into a field where its found in the bushes on the right.

La Pierre de Gargantua (St Brevin)

Trip No.203  Entry No.18  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 3

Log Text: I spent nearly an hour looking for this and eventually found it after asking a local. It is in a swamp just beside a large road junction and can be found by taking a dead end track then across some open land before dropping down into the wetlands in the corner of the road interchange.

Having found it it was not all that exciting being only abut a metre high and surrounded by tall grasses. Its hardly a Gargantua ! Perhaps its sinking into the swamp. I understand the name is something to do with a legend attached to the stone but unfoprtunately do not know anything of it.

Sainte Marguerite Au Pé Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.17  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: While at Dissignac there was a map showing a cycle ride which passed a cromlech a couple of kilometres to the south along Route du Cromlech so I went to have a look. Its easily found just north of the road junction and in a little piece of land between houses with its own signpost outside. It’s a little circle of stones about 5 metres in diameter and I suspect it’s the remains of a burial chamber indeed there seems to be an inner bit still with a capstone.

Dissignac Tumulus

Trip No.203  Entry No.16  Date Added: 1st Apr 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Loire-Atlantique)
Visited: Yes on 14th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Signposted from miles around and it has its own little parking area picnic site bus stop and kiosk but when I arrived here (on a Saturday morning in mid May) it was all shut and fenced off and it looked pretty permanent. It’s a restored tumulus with two large passage graves inside with the chambers facing southeast. It was fairly substantially rebuilt at some point in the past which doubled the size of the mound and extended the chambers by 4 metres.

Gaudinais megalithes

Trip No.203  Entry No.15  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Long Barrow Country: France (Bretagne:Ille-et-Vilaine (35))
Visited: Yes on 13th May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: A signpost to Vestiges Megalithiques de La Gaudinais points down a gravel track to this from the main street on the west side of the village of Langon so I just had to go and have a look. I have no idea what I found or even whether it is the proper megalithic remains but I had a good look around.

What I found was a sort of embanked rectangle of stones in woodland a bit like a small version of King Arthur’s Hall on Bodmin Moor. The dimensions of this rectangle are about 16 metres by 6 metres with the long axis on an alignment of 090°. I later found that this is the remains of a rectangular tumulus, with stones set around the outside, similar to that at Les Demoiselles. There are also the remains of two further tumulus mounds here, but in muxch less well preserved condition.