Monpalais Dolmen 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.123  Date Added: 13th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 5 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a beautifully restored dolmen with entry couloir sitting on and in a little stone cairn. The chamber is about 3 metres by 2 metres opening to the east, with a single stone acting to close off half the entry. It has a single capstone covering only the western end. Around it is a double walled cairn, the internal cairn of about 8 metres diameter enclosing the dolmen and its entranceway, while the outer cairn is about 15 metres in diameter, with its wall encircling the whole lot. This is a really nice piece of restoration. I hope it can remain in such good condition. The stones in the cairn are all red coloured stone, although most of the stone round here is a white colour.

Monpalais

Trip No.204  Entry No.122  Date Added: 13th Aug 2020
Site Type: Barrow Cemetery Country: France (Poitou:Deux-Sèvres (79))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: There are a couple of dolmens marked here on my map, but when I get here there is a sign and a parking area, and before I even get out of the van I can see four dolmens ! In all there are remains of about a dozen dolmens here, many of which have been recently restored. It is a pity about the busy road and the open fields, which make for low ambience scores for an otherwise very good place.

La Petite Pierre Levée (Chantebrault)

Trip No.204  Entry No.120  Date Added: 13th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Just about 80 metres from the first dolmen, in the next field, is a large stone, which look to be the remains of another dolmen.

La Grande Pierre Levée (Chantebrault)

Trip No.204  Entry No.119  Date Added: 13th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen is not far off the side of the road up on a windy ridge a couple of kilometres south of the village of St Laon. I cannot figure out what it is the remains of, it could be an allée couverte with lateral entry, or it could be a double chambered dolmen with the entrance between the two. What is either the main chamber, or two chambers, are about 10 metres from one end stone to the other, and it is about 2 metres in width. The chamber runs approximately east to west. Any entrance is probably in the middle of the south side, where some slabs are set at right angles. A single massive capstone remains sitting on top of the eastern end.

Dolmen dit la Pierre-de-Verre

Trip No.204  Entry No.118  Date Added: 13th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: In the back garden of a house to the north west of the St Laon village centre, and not far from a busy road, can be found the remains of this. Whatever this dolmen was, it has been altered about with quite a bit, including fairly recently being dug into on the west side to be made into a goat house. What there is looks a bit like an allée couverte 6 metres long by 2 metres wide, but probably was an Angevine dolmen. There is a nice donkey over the road wanting a fuss.

Dolmen de Briande 2

Trip No.204  Entry No.117  Date Added: 4th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: A few more hundred metres across another field from the first dolmen, and there are the remains of another fairly large dolmen. This one is clearly of the Angevin type with a 5 m by 3 m main chamber with a single large capstone now fallen into the middle. At the southeast there is the remains of a collapsed porchway entrance.

While visiting this dolmen I ended up in the middle of a grasshopper attack frenzy !

Dolmen de Briande 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.116  Date Added: 4th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: A couple of hundred metres away from the large tumulus, towards the railway line and across a field can be found a nice dolmen 6 metres long, 2 metres wide and 2 metres high. Three capstones sit on three pairs of side stones, but there is no evidence of any entrance or closing slabs.

Tumulus de Chassigny

Trip No.204  Entry No.115  Date Added: 4th Aug 2020
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This is a blinking great big mound, it must be 50 metres in diameter and 10 metres high. It looks to have been well dug into and messed about with, but there is nothing obvious to see except for the large mound. I wonder what is underneath.

Le Carroir Bon-Air

Trip No.204  Entry No.113  Date Added: 4th Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Indre-et-Loire (37))
Visited: Yes on 18th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Up in the hills overlooking the Vienne river, in the Chinon wine producing area can be found the remains of this dolmen. It is signposted, just to the north of Ligré and then just about a hundred metres walk along a track from the road.

It is a fairly large dolmen with main chamber 6 m by 3 m, covered by two large capstones which are still in place. Unfortunately several of the side support stones have fallen, with the resulting collapse of much of the chamber. The entrance is at the southeast, but the porchway has fallen, leaving just a few lumps of stone on the ground.

Dolmen du Griffier

Trip No.204  Entry No.111  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Maine-et-Loire 49)
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen can be found in a field beside the road running west from the village of Coulon, after about a kilometre. The remains are enclosed in a clump of bushes and a tree, about 20 metres from the road. The capstone has collapsed, leaving what at first look is not much more than a heap of stones. Closer inspection reveals it to be an Angevin dolmen, 5m by 2.5m, with an entrance porchway to the south. Unfortunately, the ploughs are getting too close, and are causing damage to the stones.

Dolmen de la Fontaine au Son 2

Trip No.204  Entry No.110  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: There are two dolmens here, about 30 metres apart, near to the Fontaines de Son water treatment plant. The western dolmen is slightly bigger, and in a bit better condition. It seems to have a north south oriented chamber, with two capstones surviving, covering the southern part of the 8 metre long chamber. The northern end has collapsed. It is difficult to tell where the entrance would have been. Oddly, this dolmen has a well tended grassy area besides it, but the dolmen itself is right in the corner and quite overgrown. It is also right on the farm track out the back, and dangerously close to getting bashed with each passing tractor.

Dolmen de la Fontaine au Son 1

Trip No.204  Entry No.109  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: There are two dolmens here, about 30 metres apart, near to the Fontaines de Son water treatment plant. The eastern dolmen is now fenced off, partly because of the water works, but probably also because it looks to be in a dangerous state, It is an Angevin dolmen with a 4m by 2.5 m chamber underneath a single capstone and its entrance to the east. Most of this is however now collapsed.

Vaon Dolmen

Trip No.204  Entry No.108  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: This nice dolmen can be found about a kilometre southeast of the village of Trois-Moutiers, and is easy to find because it is signposted. It is about a 300 metre walk from where you can park near to a barn. It is a fairly complete Angevin dolmen with a 5m by 2.5m main chamber fronted at the east end by a 2.5 by 1.5 metre entrance porch. The two capstones of the main chamber are still in place, although the roofstone of the entrance has fallen. Nicely shaded by a large tree, there was a wasp nest inside when I was here, which distracted slightly from my visit.

La Pierre Crapaud

Trip No.204  Entry No.107  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: This dolmen can be found a few hundred metres down a track to the south west of the village of Trois-Moutiers, where it resides just inside a field which was full of sunflowers when I visited, which meant that i could not get right to the dolmen. What I could see is a large capstone sat on top of some sort of support stones at one end, and the ground at the other.

Dolmen d'Epennes

Trip No.204  Entry No.105  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Poitou:Vienne (86))
Visited: Yes on 17th Jul 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: Not marked on any of my maps, but I found this mentioned from the same source that I found out the information about the nearby Pierre Folle. It is just to the east of the hamlet of Epennes, south of Bournand, about 300 metres from the road junction and across a field.

It looks to be a fairly standard 4 x 2.5 metre Angevine dolmen with its entrance to the south east, but it's all a bit of a wreck and overgrown. Unfortunately, the field it is in is cropped very close and damage looks to have been done by farm machinery recently.

Menoignon menhir

Trip No.214  Entry No.4  Date Added: 23rd Jul 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Absolutely splendid menhir which is easily found near to a corner in a little open farmland lane, just behind a little scrubland area. The menhir must be about 8 metres in height, of large girth at the bottom, slowly tapering up to a pointed top. The southeastern face of the menhir has been worked into an extremely flat surface, of triangular shape, something which clearly took a lot of time to produce. One can only speculate at what this was used for, I have no doubt that it may well have been painted on.

The locality of the stone is a bit marshy, and perhaps there is a spring nearby, underneath some of the wooded glades. Not far away to the east (~20 metres) is another large stone, which looks fairly natural, but I have no doubt it has some relation to the menhir.

Diévet Dolmen

Trip No.214  Entry No.3  Date Added: 23rd Jul 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Now completely surrounded by cultivated fields, the remains of this allée couvert are easily found to the west of the hamlet of Diévet. What remains are two parallel rows of orthostats (12 in total), between 10 and 11 metres in length by 1.5 metres wide, and with a single large coverstone remaining in the middle.

Toul an Lann menhir

Trip No.214  Entry No.15  Date Added: 23rd Jul 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Bretagne:Côtes-D'Armor (22))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: A nice slender four metre tall menhir in a field just to the north of the busy D.786 just north of Lannion.

Kerprigent Alignement de Menhirs

Trip No.214  Entry No.14  Date Added: 23rd Jul 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: After the disappointment of Barnenez being closed we still have quite a drive to the hotel in Ploumenach, so although no time for any out of the way stone visits, but should be able to fit a couple of quick visits in if not too far out of the way. A good look at the maps suggests a couple of places, the first of which seemed to be an old chapel despite its dolmen sign on the map, and this the second which looked easy enough to find, and indeed was.

In the grounds of Kerprigent Manoir, not far from the side of a small road through the woodlands to the northeast of the Manoir can be seen a quartz standing stone, just short of three metres tall. Find somewhere to park and wander into this delightful ancient woodland, and it is soon seen that the quartz menhir is not alone, being surrounded by a large number of other quartz stones. It initially looked as if these stones were in several lines, but to be honest they could be randomly positioned, and lines are always going to appear. The main menhir was probably once much larger, as it looked as if the many surrounding stones were probably broken from its top.

On this hot April afternoon, it was lovely to be in the calm and shade amongst these ancient trees, just about to spring into life, and with masses of birdsong all around. As is the normal case, these quartz stones seem to keep very cool. A lovely place to spend some time.

Barnenez cairn #2

Trip No.214  Entry No.13  Date Added: 23rd Jul 2020
Site Type: Chambered Cairn Country: France (Bretagne:Finistère (29))
Visited: Yes on 16th Apr 2014. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Leaving the car in the main Barnenez car park, we walked the few hundred metres up to the top of the hill and then took the first trackway to the left (west) just before the first house. Between 50 and 100m along here, and a field to the south opens up from which gives views over the main Barnenez cairn site, with a few gaps in the hedges at the fence allowing decent views.

The northwestern side of this field is slightly raised, and all covered in impenetrable scrubland, which I assume is the remains of the cairn 2. Back to the top, and taking the path westwards into the next field, and a clear raised area is passed over, and looking at the ground, and along the edge of the ploughed field, the whole lot is made up of stones, mostly between 20 and 50 cm size, but some being much bigger. Perfect cairn material. A bit further round, and another splendid view of the main Barnenez cairn can be seen, side on from the northwestern side. Splendid.