I have visited· I would like to visit

TheCaptain visited on 7th May 2012 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 4 Having had a good look at the IGN 1:25000 map, I saw that there is a trackway running east from the road south of Mont Joly, which runs from the bottom of the hill diagonally up to the approximate position of the stones. Even better, when arriving there for a look, the trackway was open and easily driveable, and so I took this option on this showery afternoon, and when emerging from below the wood at the top of the hill, there was plenty of space to park amongst a large composting area! Left Dad in the car while I went out into the wind and drizzle to find the stones, and there they were, just round the back of the big pile of manure! The two stones stand at the edge of an open rocky outcrop at the top of the hill, covered in wildflowers at this time of year, but I learned that the stones are not in their original positions, having been moved there by the farmer at some point in the past. The two stones are very different, the larger stone being a whitish quartz type stone, between 3.5 nd 4 metres tall, while its shorter neighbour is a reddish colour, and only about 1.6 metres tall. There are plently of other large lumps of stone laying about here, which may have been broken from the two menhirs, or just other examples of field clearance. On the way down from the stones, through a gateway into the wood I could see another rocky outcrop with various large stones standing around, a couple of them probably at least 2 metres tall. This was all now made into a nice garden feature, but is there any ancient significance to the stones? Back onto the road, and I noticed it was called Route des Menhirs, and up towards the top of the hill there was another garden with some large rocks standing in it. Onto the top of Mont Joly, and it is clear that there are large rocks all over the place, and it is easy to imagine that thee was once an alignement of large stones running along the top of the hill into the ancient settlement. Walking along the edge of the field, and then the pathway to the end of the promontary, and large stones can be seen laying around everywhere, many clearly not just a local outcropping of rock, but various shapes, sizes and types of stone. Many of these rocks were now incorporated into garden features, but many more are just laying there, slowly getting buried by the undergrowth. It really is a fascinating area, and I do wonder what a proper survey of this ancient hilltop would turn up.

johnstone visited on 24th Jun 2009 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 4

TheCaptain saw from a distance on 23rd Apr 2005 Two large menhirs in a field to the east of the village near Mont Joly but which are 500 metres from the road across a field surrounded by barbed wire and with very clear keep out signs. One of the two menhirs stands 3.6 metres high while the other is fallen. In the region around here are many other large stones some of which may well be fallen menhirs and indeed perhaps a row can be determined in the lane called “Route des Menhirs”.



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 3 Access: 4

Click to view comments at bottom of this page

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.