Dolmen de Puy Landry

Trip No.203  Entry No.222  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: The old chap at Chateau Pierre Levée knew of this dolmen's existence but the chap at Puy Landry winery didn’t but he pointed me in the direction of a menhir on the top of Puy Landry hill about a kilometre to the north but ce n’est pas grand.. I initially thought it was too far to go walking to in the intense heat and suspected he was pointing me to the Clotte menhir on the ridge but having driven nearby to have a better look it didn’t seem so far. About 400 metres from the D21E road up a track between the vineyards to the top of the ridge and in the woodland can be seen a standing stone.

Closer inspection shows the stone to be about 1.5 metres tall with a fallen companion about a metre away to the north. These stones are on top of a mound running in an easterly direction and there are several other stones lying about in the vicinity which leads me to suspect that this is indeed the remains of a dolmen or allée couverte.

Pierre Levée (Salles-de-Castillon)

Trip No.203  Entry No.221  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: This one comes with its own wine! While driving from Peyre Lebade towards Clotte I saw this stone standing at the entrance to a farmhouse wine producer and noticed that the farm was called Chateau de la Pierre Levée.

I stopped to have a better look and a man on his tractor in the vineyard came over to me so I tried to ask him about the stone. Apparently somewhere in his garage he has an archaeological panel with some information on it which he intends to get erected by the stone but he couldn’t find it. He called his wife who told him it was in the garage and went to look for herself also to no avail ! At this point I enquired of their wine and got taken on a little tour of the place and a tasting or two (how could I refuse?) so of course bought a case of mixed vintages for a very reasonable price as a souvenir.

The menhir at the entrance is just over 2 metres tall but I have to say looks fairly recently erected there although the stone looks as old as the hills. I think I saw somewhere that the menhir after which the wine is named was in a corner of a field. Perhaps it has been fairly recently moved here. It’s a pity I couldn’t fully converse with the chap he had a thick accent which didn’t help and although we chatted well about simple things the details were missed.

Peyre Lebade

Trip No.203  Entry No.220  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Aquitaine:Gironde (33))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: While looking at the village map by the Mairie to see if it marked any of the supposedly local ancient stones I noted an area called Peyre Lebade so of course I went to have a look. In the corner of the road junction here to the west of the village centre can be seen a small standing stone fenced in to a little grassy garden area. It cant be much more than a metre tall and is well weathered so I assume it’s a proper menhir.

Grotte de Bara-Bahau

Trip No.203  Entry No.219  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This cave (cave of the bears) was only discovered in 1951 features many engravings dated to 14000 years ago and also many bear claw marks. Up the hillside and well signposted from Le Bugue it was closed for lunch when I visited.

Roc de Cazelle

Trip No.203  Entry No.217  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This place has been inhabited since 40000 years ago right up until the 1960’s when the last farmer and his wife moved on. It is an overhanging cliff with several levels of caves and shelters and these days is a little visitor park showing life in the troglodytic fashion since prehistoric times with many little scenes recreated and artisans demonstrating their trades and crafts.

Grotte de Bernifal

Trip No.203  Entry No.216  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Cave or Rock Shelter Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 2nd Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: This was closed to visitors when I arrived but nevertheless it was a nice walk through splendid woodland with a little stream running nearby up to the entrance. The cave was discovered in 1905 and contains engravings of humans as well as the more usual animals.

Giverzac Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.215  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Aquitaine:Dordogne (24))
Visited: Yes on 16th Jan 2012. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Remains of a little dolmen now outside the gates to the Banque de France’ Giversac Enterprise Centre and it shelters a couple of floodlights. The capstone is about 2.5 by 2 metres broken at one end and it sits on a few various support stones. I suspect it’s been jumbled about a bit.

Finding this involved some extremely steep and narrow lanes up the vertiginous sides of the Dordogne river from Vitrac and getting away again after was just as bad as the roads through Domme are banned to campervans due to the small narrow cliff face hanging roads so although you can park next to the dolmen an access rating of 5 is perhaps a bit high ! There are no signs.

Fontaine des Chartreux

Trip No.203  Entry No.214  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 1st Jun 2005. My rating: Access 4

Log Text: Cross the wonderful Pont Valentré from the old town of Cahors, contained within its loop of the Lot river, and walk south along the riverside for a few hundred metres, and you will find this huge spring in the cliffside, with the crystal clear water surging out. Two thousand years ago, the Fontaine des Chartreux was used for the worship of Divona, or Divona Cadurcorum, "Divona of the Cadurci," a Celtic people of Gaul before the Roman conquest in the 50s BC. Many coins, minted between 27 BC and AD 54 and thrown into the water as offerings, have been discovered by archaeologists here.

Peyre Levade (La Borie Rouge)

Trip No.203  Entry No.213  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jan 2012. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Remains of a small dolmen in a garden just to the north of Lalbenque. It is not well cared for and has had a large hedge planted between it and the roadside to presumably stop people like me having a look. In fact it looks as if one of the side slabs has recently been split.

Dolmen dit la Pierre Levée (Pélissie)

Trip No.203  Entry No.212  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the south of the crossroads at Pélissie on the D6 road 50 metres up a little track and into a small woodland area can be found the remains of this dolmen. The 4.5 by 2.5 metre capstone sits on not much of the crumbling side slabs but is nicely covered in moss.

Mas de Labat 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.209  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: This is an odd dolmen incorporated into a wall. The small entrance below the capstone opens up into a typical 3m by 15 m chamber. The capstone itself is piled high with stone. Its not an easy dolmen to find with lots of windy lanes to negotiate before getting anywhere near the place and after that it took a bit of searching around in scrubby area round the back of a house and across a couple of fields.

Mas de Labat 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.208  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: Once the lane through Mas de Labat has been found this one is fairly easy to find as it is given away by the mound at the top of the hill amongst some scrubland in a field. Having said that it seems to be becoming very overgrown and indeed is not much more than a mound at the top of a hill now. At the centre of the mound a small 2 m by 0.7 m chamber can be seen between two side slabs visible amongst the bush. There was no sign of any capstone.

Peyre Gagès Dolmen

Trip No.203  Entry No.206  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen can be seen just about 20 metres to the east of the D143 road a few kilometres to the north of Limogne. It stands in a field with traces of its mound still around it and can clearly be seen from the road. The field had a herd of cows in it at the time of my visit and was well fenced so I didn’t go to inspect it at close hand. It looks to be a bit smaller than the average dolmen in these parts.

Dolmen de Pech Grillé

Trip No.203  Entry No.205  Date Added: 21st Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: The remains of this dolmen can be found just beside the D143 road to the north of Limogne but is a bit of a wreck. The capstone has split in two along the length of the chamber with the two pieces falling one to each side of the two side slabs. As a result it now looks something like 4 parallel slabs of stone with only one half of the capstone leaning against its upright. The chamber would have been the average 3.5 metres long by 1.2 metres wide.

Aubiac Dolmen 2

Trip No.203  Entry No.203  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Unmarked on any of my maps, but just at the junction of the D.19 and the little road which runs north towards Les Cabranes, can be seen a mound. Closer inspection shows it to have the remains of a reasonable dolmen chamber within it, 3.5 metres long, 1.2 metres wide and with a capstone covering only its eastern half. It makes me wonder just how many more dolmens and burial mounds like this there are around here.

Aubiac Dolmen 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.202  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just beside the little road which runs off the D.19 to the north of St-Jean-de-Laur towards Les Cabranes, can be seen the remains of this dolmen. Three metres long, by 1.8 metres wide and 2 metres tall, the chamber has only one side slab, but is kept together with a drystone wall on the northern side. It has in the past been used as an animal shelter, and there are masses of ants everywhere.

Dolmen de Quatre Routes

Trip No.203  Entry No.201  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the west of the D.19 road to the north of St-Jean-de-Laur, this initially looks to be a small dolmen, but upon closer inspection is probably just half of the remains of one. It is well fenced off, and proper acces to investigate it fully cannot be obtained.

Marsigalliet Dolmen 1

Trip No.203  Entry No.200  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen is found a couple of kilometres to the northwest of Laramière, along the GR.36 footpath, but which for this stretch is a driveable track. It is then a hundred or so metres walk into the forest, but signposted.

This is another much larger than average dolmen for round here, still mostly contained within its mound. Unfortunately, at some time in the past, the capstone and chamber ends have been broken and incorporated into a wall. The chamber is over 4 metres in length, 2 metres wide and 2 metres high, and faces substantially to the south of east, at 147°. The capstone was probably once nicely shaped, and 3.5 metres wide at the front end. There are other dolmens to be found in the woods around here.

Dolmen de Peyco Levado

Trip No.203  Entry No.199  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just to the south of the D.55 road between Beauregard and Laramière, and signposted, this dolmen is sat in a little clearing beside a trackway. Much larger than the average round here, this dolmen has a 6 metre by 4 metre capstone sitting on top of a 5 metre long chamber facing east at 100°. The dolmen still sits in the remains of its mound, which possibly still has some remains of a surrounding circle of stones. On top of the capstone, above the entrance to the chamber, there is a basin, or large cupule cut into the rock. The ambience of the place is spoiled by masses of plastic sheeting covered hay bales in the immediate vicinity.

Dolmen des Sanguinades

Trip No.203  Entry No.198  Date Added: 20th Apr 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Midi:Lot (46))
Visited: Yes on 31st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Just off of the GR.36 footpath a couple of kilometres to the southeast of Varaire, in a field full of orchids can be found this little broken dolmen, which has the remains of its capstone fallen off the front of its side slabs.