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Île Carn cairn
Trip No.203 Entry No.514 Date Added: 27th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 20th Jun 2005. My rating: Access 2
Île Carn cairn submitted by thecaptain on 15th Jun 2006. Île Carn, just off the northwestern coast of Brittany.
Unfortunately, when I was passing here the tide was not fully out, and rising, so I could not get out onto the little island with its massive and spectacular cairn.
I tried stopping nearby for the night, which would have let me get out onto the island next morning, but the local campsite was closed and deserted, and I had worldly needs, so had to move on elsewhere, still hoping to come back the next morning.......
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Log Text: Just offshore is this little island which can be reached a low tide, with a massive cairn containing three dolmenic chambers. There are also some WW2 gun emplacements and lookouts which spoil it a bit. The cairn is massive, and looks like its been quarried into, and from the shore the entry to one of the chambers can be seen. Its a pity I cannot get out to have a look. Should I borrow a boat ?
Île Tariec cairn
Trip No.203 Entry No.518 Date Added: 28th May 2020
Site Type: Cairn
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 2
Île Tariec cairn submitted by thecaptain on 20th Jun 2006. On the seaward part of the island are the remains of a chambered cairn and a small menhir.
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Log Text: Just to the north of the menhir on this little island which can be reached at low tide, is the slight mound of a cairn. Its about 15 metres in diameter and 2 metres in height. I could see nothing in the way of structure under all the grass and stuff.
Ile Guénioc
Trip No.203 Entry No.519 Date Added: 28th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 21st Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 1
Ile Guénioc submitted by thecaptain on 17th Jun 2006. This island, which is difficult to get to, has on it three massive cairns with their multitude of chambers and dolmens within them.
This is the best picture I could get on my little camera, taken on full zoom from Ile Tariec, which can be walked to at very low tide.
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Log Text: Just offshore from Presqu'ile Ste-Marguerite near the town of Landéda, and due west of Ile Tariec, can be seen Ile Guénioc (Ile Gaignog). This island, which is difficult to get to, has on it three massive cairns with their multitude of chambers and dolmens within them. In order to get here a boat is needed, and I think that landing on the island is controlled, so I am not going to manage it now, as there is nobody about with a boat who I can try and persuade!
Through my binoculars from where I am sat on Ile Tariec it looks superb. The southernmost cairn seems to have about half a dozen entrances in the eastern side and facing towards me, but it isn't a very high cairn. The middle cairn is even larger, but it is slightly obscured by a rise in the land in front of it. Several large dolmenic structures can be seen, with slabs of rock in places. The northern cairn is even higher, and looks to have about 4 entrances.
I feel that I really need to get out onto the island to have a proper look. I must come back one day with a small boat. Oh well, the tide has turned half an hour ago, I'd better start making my way back, I don't want to be stuck out on this little island for the next ten hours !
Ilot Roc'h-Avel
Trip No.203 Entry No.515 Date Added: 28th May 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3
Ilot Roc'h-Avel submitted by thecaptain on 18th Jun 2006. Ilot Roc'h-Avel is a small island just offshore from Presqu'ile Ste-Marguerite, which can be easily walked to from the beach at Kerennoc when not high tide.
Just inland and up a bit from the cairn cut in half by the sea is another cairn, again of which certain edge set stones suggest remains of a chamber.
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Log Text: Just offshore from Presqu'ile Ste-Marguerite near the town of Landéda are a few small islands which can be reached at low tide, upon which there are stone monuments. Ilot Roc'h-Avel is one of these, which can be easily walked to from the beach at Kerennoc when not high tide tide.
Towards the western tip of the islet is the fascinating remains of a cairn which is now half on the island with the other half now taken by the sea. At the seaward edge can be seen a drystone walled chamber - only the northern half of which remains. A few large stones lie dotted about on the shoreline, which with a bit of imagination can be placed into position for some sort of chamber.
Just inland and up a bit from the cairn cut in half by the sea is another cairn, again of which certain edge set stones suggest remains of a chamber.
There are lots of children out on the beach below, obviously a school visit. All sorts of fun and games are going on, girls shreiking when their feet touch weed or shells! Brilliant. AAaaaaaaarggghhhh - its a crab !!!!!!
Île Tariec menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.517 Date Added: 28th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 21st Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 5 Access 2
Île Tariec menhir submitted by thecaptain on 20th Jun 2006. On the seaward part of the island are the remains of a chambered cairn and a small menhir. The menhir is only about a metre high, a rock tapered towards the top, but in its position near the top of the island it can be clearly seen from all around.
This is the view to the west, with the reknowned island of Ile Guénioc and its cairns seen in the background.
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Log Text: Just offshore from Presqu'ile Ste-Marguerite near the town of Landéda are a few small islands which can be reached at low tide, upon which there are stone monuments.
Ile Tariec is one of these, which can only be walked to for a short while each side of low tide, and the island became split into two parts in about 1876. The part of the island nearest to the mainland has the remains of a twelfth century hermitage on it, and the island was used to house dead and ill people in the past when suffering from plague, cholera etc.
On the outward part of the island are the remains of a dolmen and a small menhir. The menhir is only about a metre high, a rock tapered towards the top, but in its position near the top of the island it can be clearly seen from all around.
I was told by the camp site man that the midsummer solstice sun rise, when seen from here with your chin resting on the top of the menhir, supposedly rises between the legs of a dolmen on the main headland, but which has now unfortunately fallen in the dunes. Its a pity I wasn't here 4 or 5 hours ago, as I could have checked the theory. However, from a quick bit of reckoning and I don't think so, the mainland doesn't seem to stretch far enough to the north, but who am I to question the story? The northernmost tip of the mainland is at a bearing of about 075° from here.
Kerloas Menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.499 Date Added: 27th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Kerloas menhir submitted by thecaptain on 23rd Jun 2006. Kerloas menhir noticeboard.
Unfortunately theres lots of writing, so it comes out very small !
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Log Text: What a fantastic stone, and easily found near to the old D.5 road to the east of Plouarzel due to many signposts to it. This is the biggest standing menhir in Europe, if not the world, at nearly 10 metres tall, and has lost the top 2 metres after a lightning strike! It towers above all around, and standing as it does on top of a hill, it can be seen from 30 kilometres away.
The stone, which is not local and has been brought to this hilltop site from more than 2.5 kilometres away near the Aber Ildut estuary, has been beautifully shaped, and tapers both into the ground, and up to a point. On the two "thin" sides of the stone are round humps, about 20 cm in diameter about belly high above the ground.
This stone of course has many legends, such as treasure buried beneath it, going to drink at the ocean on the strike of 12:00 on Christmas night, and that newly wed couples should come here on their wedding night to rub the stone lumps for a good future and fertility. In fact, many wedding parties still come here to this day in order to perform this ritual.
It was a pity it was cold and late when I visited, and not good light for photographs. I feel I would like to stay here a while, it has a lovely atmosphere. Maybe I will come back tomorrow.
Bellevue Menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.451 Date Added: 23rd May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 2 Access 5
Bellevue menhir submitted by thecaptain on 13th Jul 2006. This menhir is more than 4 metres tall, right beside the old Roman road to the south of the town centre.
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Log Text: Bellevue menhir near to the town of Moëlan-sur-Mer is more than 4 metres tall, right beside the old Roman road to the south of the town centre. I found it difficult to park nearby and get a reasonable picture in between dodging all the traffic on this busy road.
Kergadiou Menhirs
Trip No.203 Entry No.500 Date Added: 27th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stones
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 20th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 4 Access 4
Kergadiou menhirs submitted by thecaptain on 8th Jul 2006. Kergadiou menhir 2 is another king sized menhir, 11 metres long, which unfortunately is not standing upright, but leaning at a very shallow angle.
It is perfectly smoothed into an extremely flat face on its upper surface, while the lower surface is still rough
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Log Text: The two menhirs of Kergadiou are a fine place to visit, and fairly easily found in a field a couple of kilometres north of the Aber Ildut estuary. From these two giant menhirs, it is possible to see the Kerloas menhir when the modern trees are not in leaf, and the sightline over the Kerloas menhir is perpendicular to the midsummer sunrise. Coincidence ?
Kergadiou menhir 1 is a really magnificent monster menhir, 8.8 metres tall, and the most beautifully and perfectly smoothed and shaped menhir there is. Just 80 metres away to the northeast is its neighbour, another king sized menhir which unfortunately is not standing upright, but leaning at a very shallow angle. It is perfectly smoothed into an extremely flat face on its upper surface, while the lower surface is still rough, which leads to conjecture that it has perhaps never stood, and is left here unfinished. An alternate viewpoint is that it stood as a rough stone, and fell while being pounded into its smoothed and flattened shape, perhaps in preparation for some carvings. This menhir is 11 metres in length, so would have probably stood to the same height as its neighbour.
What a tremendous place.
Menhir de Kergoarat
Trip No.203 Entry No.533 Date Added: 29th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 22nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Menhir de Kergoarat submitted by thecaptain on 1st Dec 2006. Splendidly shaped 7 metres tall menhir standing on its little headland beyond the Cam Louis beach.
As with most of the stones round here, it is a wonderfully weathered rock.
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Log Text: In contrast to its bulbous headed, thirsty neighbour, this fine chap looks to be wearing a pointy hat. He must be a good 7 metres tall and standing perfectly upright on this little headland beyond the beach. As with most of the stones round here, it is a wonderfully weathered rock, and from certain angles it has a face in it, looking out over the sea.
Pendreff Alignement
Trip No.203 Entry No.466 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 5 Access 4
Pendreff Alignement submitted by thecaptain on 7th Dec 2006. The Kerfland menhirs are three gorgeous tall slender menhirs standing in a row at the edge of a wood south of Plomeur.
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Log Text: The Kerfland menhirs are three gorgeous tall slender menhirs standing in a row at the edge of a wood, easily reached down a little signposted footpath from the roadside a couple of kilometres south of Plomeur. They line up almost due north to south, at an alignment of 005° magnetic (in 2005) and are spaced about 5 metres apart from each other.
To me, these are the supermodels of the menhir world, each being over 5 metres tall yet only 30cm thick, and up to 2 m wide, and are very elegantly shaped into curvy features. The southern one is sort of pointing skywards. Unfortunately the central stone has obviously been broken in the past, but is cemented back together in a very reasonable way. It is just a pity that they are a bit overgrown, making pictures difficult, but not too badly.
Dolmen de Penquer-Bloas
Trip No.203 Entry No.468 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4
Dolmen de Penquer-Bloas submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. Sometimes described as an allée couverte, this looks to me to be a simple dolmen still mostly within its mound, but it is unsure exactly what this was originally.
It's in a little woodland area, beside an industrial stoneworking site, so its possibly lucky it has survived at all.
It suffers badly from neglect, and has lots of rubbish strewn around.
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Log Text: Although I have seen this described as an allée couverte, it looks to me to be a simple dolmen still mostly within its mound. It is unsure what this monument was originally. It's in a little woodland area, beside the road by an industrial stoneworking site. It suffers badly from neglect, and has lots of rubbish strewn around.
Allée Couverte de Menez Landu
Trip No.203 Entry No.467 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5
Allée couverte de Menez Landu submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. This initially looks like a straightforward simple dolmen beside the busy D.785 road, southwest of Plomeur, but it is almost lost within the undergrowth.
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Log Text: This looks like a straightforward simple dolmen beside the busy D.785, a kilometre or so southwest of Plomeur. It has a single capstone on top of two side stones, and a large backstone, but it is almost lost within the undergrowth. But it looked a bit to me as if it is the possibly the end of an allée couverte with an end cell, or some other type of passage grave like there are around here.
Tronval Dolmen
Trip No.203 Entry No.463 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4
Tronval dolmen submitted by thecaptain on 8th Dec 2006. Southwest of Plobannalec, the Tronval dolmens are found just a hundred metres walk from the Quélarn dolmens.
They look to be the remains of what appears to be a pair of chambers, just a few metres apart.
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Log Text: The Tronval dolmen is found just a hundred metres walk from the Quélarn dolmens parking area, on the opposite side of the road. There are the remains of what appears to be another pair of chambers, this time only a few metres apart. The southwestern one is completely collapsed, while the northwestern has a fallen capstone resting on two sideslabs, with perhaps an entrance passage, and two slabs jutting out sideways. Perhaps these are facing slabs to the front of the cairn ? The ruined chamber also has these side slabs which seem to be a feature round here.
I later found out that these are remains of a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections.
Dolmen de Menez-Veil
Trip No.203 Entry No.459 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5
Dolmen de Menez-Veil submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. The Dolmen de Menez-Veil can be found right by the roadside near a roundabout at the entrance to the village of Lesconil, on a little tended grassy area.
It looks like it might be somebodies garden.
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Log Text: The Rue Jules Ferry dolmen is a strange one. There's a little capstone sitting at a funnyangle on three support stones, on top of a stone mound, which is sort of walled in and held together by stone slabs around the outside. I can only assume that it's all been very rearranged at some point. It can be found right by the roadside near a roundabout at the entrance to the village of Lesconil, on a little tended grassy area. It looks like it might be somebodies garden.
Quélarn menhir
Trip No.203 Entry No.465 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Quélarn menhir submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. Just to the south of the Quélarn burial cairns is a small menhir, about 2.5 metres tall.
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Log Text: Just to the south of the Quélarn burial cairns is a small menhir, about 2.5 metres tall. It is assumed that the two are related. These have been dated to the middle neolithic.
Menhir des Droits de l'Homme
Trip No.203 Entry No.473 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Menhir des Droits de l'Homme submitted by thecaptain on 19th Dec 2006. This large menhir was erected here and inscribed in 1840 to commemorate the shipwreck of the "Droits de l'Homme" in 1797 with the loss of around 600 lives.
The stone is a real menhir moved here from elsewhere. It's next to a car park besides this phenomenal beach, with the surf pounding in all around, creating its own fog !
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Log Text: This is a large menhir erected here in 1840 to commemorate the shipwreck of the "Droits de l'Homme" in 1797 with the loss of around 600 lives. The stone used was once a real menhir moved to here from elsewhere. It's at the edge of a car park besides this phenomenal beach, with the surf pounding in all around, creating its own fog !
Penhors stèle
Trip No.203 Entry No.471 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir)
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 5
Penhors stèle submitted by thecaptain on 21st Dec 2006. This fantastic sculpted and grooved (cannelée) iron age stèle can be seen in the front garden of a home at Penhors, and is a good 4 metres tall.
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Log Text: This is a fantastic grooved and sculpted (cannelée) iron age stèle I saw in a front garden of a home I was passing at Penhors. It is almost perfectly shaped, round with grooves running up the sides, and tapered towards the top, which is a good 4 metres above the ground. This superb stèle was found fallen in a nearby hedge and re-erected in the garden. The granite from which it is made has originally come from at least 5 kilometres away.
Quélarn Dolmens
Trip No.203 Entry No.464 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5
Quélarn dolmens submitted by thecaptain on 10th Dec 2006. Part of the informative noticeboard at this interesting site, showing the details of these Compartmented Dolmens.
Much of the siteplan can be seen, although I have chopped off the right hand end.
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Log Text: The Quélarn dolmens are fairly easily found as they are signposted a couple of kilometres to the west of Plobannalec, and they have their own little parking space and picnic area. Although mostly destroyed in the middle ages when it was used as a quarry, this massive site has been excavated and restored, and got an explanatory noticeboard. These have been dated to the middle neolithic.
These are a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had massive chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections, and to hold up the roof. This was all once a massive monument in a 50 metre long mound, running east to west, with six of the compartmented chambers within it, all facing to the south, as opposed to the other two I have seen previously. The basic layout of the structure can be seen, but only the large side slabs remain, making a sort of ground plan. Only one capstone remains in place for the whole thing. Some of the chambers would have been massive. The largest one at the west measures about 10 metres by 8 metres rectangular, and is more like a 9 roomed house than a burial chamber !
It is nice to see it all kept clear of undergrowth and presented like this, but the mechanical clearance cutters used are damaging the stones, many of which have been scraped and cracked by the cutters.
Kerfuens Dolmens
Trip No.203 Entry No.462 Date Added: 25th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5
Kerfuens dolmens submitted by thecaptain on 14th Dec 2006. A few hundred metres to the west of the Plobannalec sports centre can be found the remains of two more dolmens.
The eastern one is not in a very good condition.
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Log Text: Just a few hundred metres to the west of the sports centre can be found the remains of two more little dolmens sat inside small mounds, which are kept in a little cleared area for all to see.
As for the Kervadol dolmens, they are about ten metres from each other in an east to west sense, but open to face the north. The western one is in quite good condition, the eastern not so. The chambers are about 2 metres long, and 1 metre wide, with side slabs and around them what looks like a cairn of stones held in place with side slabs. Again, it is hard to tell whether these would have been in separate mounds, or one big one. I feel it is probably one mound with two additional parts.
I later found out that these are remains of a type of monument only found in this coastal part of southwest Brittany, and are compartmented dolmens, which had chambers with internal compartment slabs to break up the chamber into sections.
Dolmen de Rostudel
Trip No.203 Entry No.493 Date Added: 27th May 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen
Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 19th Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3
Dolmen de Rostudel submitted by thecaptain on 19th Jan 2007. This little dolmen is out near the southern tip of the Crozon peninsula, but a right pain to find and get to, even though it is just 50 metres from the roadside.
It's surrounded by vicious gorse and brambles which ripped my shirt.
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Log Text: This is a nice enough little dolmen, but a right bugger to find and get to, even though it is just 50 metres from the roadside. Firstly there was nowhere to park nearby, and once you have parked and walked back, the path to the dolmen is badly overgrown with the now obligatory ferns, gorse and blackthorn. Once I managed to get to it, the dolmen has a 2.5m by 2m capstone sitting nicely on three support stones and some vicious brambles which have just ripped my shirt. Ouch! Now to fight the gorse again.