Dolmen de Prunay

Trip No.204  Entry No.281  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: Near to the road running south from the village of Tripleville towards Prunay can be found this dolmen, about 50 metres from the road across a field. It's not much more than a large stone on a slight raise in the land, but there may be more below. Its about 3m by 3m and rounded in shape, and very thick, perhaps 1.7 metres.

La Mouïse-Martin Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.283  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 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: To the northeast of the village of Tripleville, the Mouïse-Martin dolmen can be found in a field of tall sweetcorn just to the east of the little lane leading up to Mouïse-Martin farm. Its about 80 metres from the road, and the capstone can be seen covered in grass high above the sweetcorn, so it's either sitting on some good support stones, or on a fairly big mound. The capstone looks to be roundish, about 3 metres in diameter, and fairly thick.

As I was writing this, a farmer drives by in his tractor, and stopped for a chat with me. He told me that if I wanted to walk to the dolmen it would be OK. I couldn't quite see how I was going to be able to do this without either pushing through all the maize, or I would have to go to the far end of the field and then a long walk between the rows. Time was getting on, so I decline his kind offer. What a nice attitude most of the farmers and landowners in France seem to have.

La Pierre Sorcière

Trip No.204  Entry No.291  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 9th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: I have seen this referred to as both a dolmen and a polissoir, and can be found by the roadside just outside the village of Villiersfaux, and signposted from the Mairie. It is a big 5 m by 3 m lump of puddingstone, with a few other stones around and about it. It may well be the capstone of a collapsed dolmen, but on the top it has clearly been used as a polissoir stone. There are at the south end a couple of small grooves, and a couple of flats. This is not overly impressive, but its certainly here, and findable, unlike lots round here.

Gâts-Fleuris Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.295  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 9th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Just to the side of Rue des Dolmens, to the north of the village of Huisseau-en-Beauce, can be found the remains of this dolmen or dolmens. Unfortunately it really is no more than a pile of stones at the roadside these days, although with the knowledge of what was once there, it is possible to make out the remains of two capstones still partly resting on their supports.

Apparently, in the 1920s, not only were the dolmens quite complete, but also still largely covered by their tumulus. All of the stones are of a flinty gravelly puddingstone, some of which is crumbling.

Hauts-de-Bretagne Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.293  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 9th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: On a west facing slope in the middle of a field, a kilometre or so to the north of the village of Huisseau-en-Beauce, can be found the remains of this dolmen. It is reached by finding the Rue des Dolmens, and then a difficult kilometre walk along farmtracks, across streams and fields.

It was once an Angevin type dolmen with a 3.5 metre by 2 metre rectangular chamber, with its entrance porchway at the east. Unfortunately it was dynamited at the end of the 19th century, and so is not much more than a large pile of stones now. However, the basic ground plan can be made out.

Hauts-de-Bretagne Polissoir

Trip No.204  Entry No.294  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 9th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Just outside the Hauts-de-Bretagne dolmen, at the northwest side, can be found a polissoir stone, with one groove, 5 basins and a flat area for polishing work. These are on a slab about one metre square. I do not know whether this slab was once part of the blown up dolmen or not.

Menhir dit la Drue à Gargantua

Trip No.204  Entry No.284  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Yes on 8th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the east of the village of Tripleville, not far from the centre and just to the north of the D.137 road, the four metres tall limestone Nivardière menhir can be found before you reach the quarry. There is another lump of stone at its base, which I think may have broken off the top at some time. It is about 2 metres wide and 1 metre thick, and positively gleams in the late afternoon sunshine.

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 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 du Val d’Avril

Trip No.204  Entry No.282  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Couldn't find on 8th Aug 2005

Log Text: I could see mothing obvious of the Butte de Champart to the south of the village of Tripleville, despite walking all around the area. It is perhaps all in the trees in the back garden of a house, behind the large woodshed.

Les Grosses Pierres (Breuil)

Trip No.204  Entry No.288  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Couldn't find on 9th Aug 2005

Log Text: I could find no trace of this despite spending a lot of time looking. It should be somewhere beside the river Loir south of Cloyes near to Le Breuil farm, but a longish way from any road. All the land in this region is either flooded for lakes, planted with tall sweetcorn, or private, and I could find no dolmen. Its a very pleasant spot though.

Mondétour polissoirs

Trip No.204  Entry No.290  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Couldn't find on 9th Aug 2005

Log Text: This polissoir is signposted up a trackway from the D.917 roadside to the southwest of Vendome. The trouble is, there are no more signs to be found once away from the road, and the track splits into three ways. A railway cuts the straight on, obvious path, and I could find no stone up there. The other ways all split again and again, and even after crossing under the railway, there is no obvious way. Just how the heck are we meant to find this stone ???

Since my visit, and with the help of geoportail and its 1:25,000 ign maps, I have now been able to identify where this polissoir is, and it is a fair bit to the south of the railway. Obviously, in order to find it, the ign 1:25,000 maps are needed, as the signposts are hopeless. So all I needed was all 1200 1:25,000 maps !!!!! Or geoportail up and running back then. Its odd. The village map in Fréteval say that there are megalithic walks in Marcilly-en-Beauce, but nothing about its own dolmens. The sign at Marcilly-en-Beauce on the other hand, has nothing about itself, yet says that there are dolmens to be seen in Fréteval. Its enough to make me want to give up.

Dolmen des Louettes

Trip No.204  Entry No.289  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Loire-et-Cher (41))
Visited: Couldn't find on 9th Aug 2005

Log Text: Marked on my ign 1:100,000 map, but I could find no sign of this dolmen on the ground. What I did find was lots of fishing places along the banks of the pleasant Loir river near to a lovely old papermill. I asked a few people if they knew of any dolmens around here and none of them had any idea what I was talking about. The best I got offered was the Donjon de Fréteval as ancient stones !

Since my visit, and with the help of geoportail and its 1:25,000 ign maps, I have now been able to identify not only one, but two dolmens in this region, which are on the northern river banks, just to the south of the large road junction, and should be fairly easily accessible. I was even looking in the right woodland for the first. So close yet so far...

Pierre Percée (Draché)

Trip No.205  Entry No.8  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: A few kilometres to the south of the village of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine along the N.10, and this stone is signposted, less than a kilometre to the west along a minor road. The stone has its own little parking area and explanatory signpost, and is set in a nice open grassy area.

The stone is about 3.5 metres tall, slightly leaning and pointing skywards. About two thirds of the way up is an intriguing hole through the stone, oval in shape, about 25 cm by 20 cm, which is perhaps natural.

This menhir has many legends associated with it, and it is said that if children or babies are passed through the hole, they will be cured and immune to various diseases. There is also a legend that the stone was used for sacrifices, and that all of the parts of the sacrificial body must be passed through the hole. It is thought that it may originally have been some form of marker stone for a nearby ancient cemetery, now no longer to be seen.

La Pierre Fondue

Trip No.205  Entry No.9  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen can be found about 100 metres up a track behind the hamlet of Bommiers, which is a couple of kilometres to the south of the village of Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine down the N.10. It is about one kilometre to the north of the Pierre Percée. Once you reach the hamlet, it is signposted, and sits in a field which had been harvested when I was here, so was able to visit the dolmen properly.

The dolmen has a single capstone sitting 2 metres high on top of two large side supports and a backstone, and seems to have been moved to the back where it overhangs a lot. The rectangular chamber is about 4 metres by 2.5 metres in size, and faces almost due south. There are a few other stones at the southern end, suggesting either a continuation of the chamber, or perhaps an Angevine portal entrance, but these are fallen and it is not easy to tell what.

Pierre Chaude

Trip No.205  Entry No.10  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: About a kilometre to the east of the village of Neuilly, on the road to Paulmy, can be found this nice dolmen, about 50 metres to the south of the road in a hazlenut grove, and signposted.

The dolmen has a large single capstone which is now broken, sat on top of 6 support stones making a rectangular chamber about 3 metres by 3 metres internal dimensions, and almost 2 metres high at the top. The entrance to the dolmen is through a cut side stone at the eastern side, which has the opening made at the top.

The dolmen was excavated in the 19th century, and several skeletons were found, along with animal bones, polished stones, flint items and pottery. Nearby is the permanent spring of Fonteny, about 200 metres to the south.

Coeur de Birette

Trip No.205  Entry No.12  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: In the gardens of the Chateau de Grand Pressigny are, amongst many other things, a polissoir stone called (I believe) the Coeur de Birette ???.

Grand-Pressigny Musée de la Préhistoire

Trip No.205  Entry No.11  Date Added: 13th Oct 2020
Site Type: Museum Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 30th Aug 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Museum of prehistory contained within the remains of the ruined Chateau de Grand Pressigny, this is a wonderful place to visit. In a little village on the edge of a plateau, the castle is on a steep sided headland with a huge ditch cut to protect it from the fourth side. This place has been lived in and defended since the year dot. For €4 entry fee, you not only get to visit the castle, but also a fossils exhibition, the prehistory museum, and any other temporary exhibitions that may be held here. The castle is excellent, with curtain walls and towers, dungeons, an excellent gatehouse, a superb keep, a large tower and some magnificent cellars and underground passages crossing from one side to the other, all of which can be visited. In the gardens are, amongst many other things, a polissoir stone (called the Coeur de Birette?) and a bit of an iron age stele.

The chateau is right in the middle of one of the greatest prehistoric regions in the world, where people have lived since before people existed. Cave shelters etc have been identified which go back millions of years. And then there is the silex (flint) for which this region is world renowned. This is a yellowish kind of flint which occurs in huge nodules (livres de beurre), which can be split into many fine and long blades, and which have been worked here for an eternity. Blades up to 30 cm long have been found in the region, and they were traded to places all over western Europe. This is one of the most important places in the western world until the advent of the bronze age. In the prehistory museum, there are some wonderful items, ranging from the ancient paleolithic up to the iron age and then the coming of the Romans. Superb.

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.

Dolmen du Château de Pierrefitte

Trip No.204  Entry No.298  Date Added: 11th Sep 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 10th Aug 2005

Log Text: It's difficult to get to see this dolmen, as it resides in the grounds of a big private chateau, and cannot be visited. However I was just able to catch a glimpse of it from the front gate of the house. It is in the parkland at the east side, with trees around it. It looks a nice tidy dolmen with capstone still in place.