Alignement des Bruyères

Trip No.202  Entry No.81  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Stone Row / Alignment Country: France (Normandie:Eure (27))
Visited: Couldn't find on 3rd May 2005

Log Text: I carelessly missed this alignment of three menhirs by not looking carefully at all the information I had with me. I looked in the village for details but there were none I could find. It is supposedly in a field down near the hamlet of Les Bruyeres. So much for my thinking that some unknown being was helping me out today !

Allée Couverte de Dampsmesnil

Trip No.202  Entry No.94  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Eure (27))
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: It’s easy enough to find the pathway that leads into the woods to this its signed allée couverte from several places from several miles around. However the tiny roads with cropped fields make it almost impossible to park anywhere (certainly a camper van) so it was a long walk. From the lane where the signposted track ascends into the woods its about a half kilometre walk following the main trackway up and keeping left. There is another little sign at a junction of woodland tracks where you turn left and about a further 100 metres along is this nice trench grave along with a little notice board which states that its over 4000 years old and gives descriptions of the various features. When you get there it’s a bit of a corker although falling into disrepair and in need of some affection.

The main chamber is about 10 metres long cut 2 metres deep into the hillside on an orientation of 218° looking down into the valley. There are three massive capstones each more than 3 metres long still in place and the remains of 2 more on this 2 metre wide Allée. The walls consist of large upright slabs with drystone walling between them and the whole thing ends with a massive block at the north-eastern end.

What makes this place a bit special are two features not often found elsewhere. The most obvious is the remains of the lower half of the entrance stone positioned across the chamber with it’s finely cut circular porthole entrance. The top half of the stone is missing but there is enough left to see the fine work which went into creating this entrance. It is very circular with a diameter of about 50 cm made using not just a single cut through the thick stone but a sort of double circular stepped and lipped edge.

The other special feature of this grave is found on the stone just outside the main chamber on the left hand side in front of the porthole stone and with half a capstone sat on it. On this stone has been carved the likeness of a lady (or goddess) and her two breasts can clearly be made out (although in some distant time her left one has been largely hammered away) above which are the remains of four arcs representing necklaces. I thought I could also make out some of her outline and a representation of a belt or other such item. Much of this stone is very worn and indeed I guess its only survived at all due to the presence of the half capstone and I think it said on the notice board that her face could be made out in the past. I wonder who it was.

A few other stones lie scattered about including what was probably one of the capstones which has been removed and lies partway down a steep slope several yards in front of the grave behind the notice board.

After visiting this monument I saw another one marked nearby on the map so set off to look for that. Unfortunately there was a little old narrow bridge between the two places and although my van fitted on to the bridge easily enough I had a lot of trouble getting off the other side and there was no way I was going to be able to reverse back off. After about 6 or 7 attempts to get between the protective bollards in the roadside presumably put there to protect the much wider bridge with a few scrapes down the side of my van and a broken sidelight I had discovered that the gap between the bollards was only an inch wider than the width of my van. I was obviously getting too confident about driving it around all these narrow places and will have to take more care in future.

Allée Couverte de Mauny

Trip No.202  Entry No.96  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Seine-Maritime (76))
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 3

Log Text: A much ruined allée couverte which can be found in woodland beside the D265 road as it climbs the hill from the riverbank below and to the east of Mauny. Almost lost in the woods and currently being used as a junk store it almost looks like its been bulldozed. There is however a very nice half porthole stone which can still be made out. The main chamber is probably about 10 metres long 1.5 metres wide and faces down the valley but most of the remaining stone slabs are just a jumble. Its very much in need of some TLC.

Allée Couverte de Pinterville

Trip No.202  Entry No.90  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Normandie:Eure (27))
Visited: Couldn't find on 4th May 2005

Log Text: Despite driving around this village and its environs thoroughly and looking at the village map and having the ign 1:25000 map I could find no signs of this.

Bas Villette Dolmen

Trip No.202  Entry No.40  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Couldn't find on 30th Apr 2005

Log Text: I could find nothing here despite it being marked on my ign map. It is perhaps in private woodland.

Bignon Dolmen

Trip No.202  Entry No.50  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 1st May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: A little Mayenne allée couverte still largely within its mound but its all falling down and a bit of a wreck. However it is now living in a little fenced off area and is signposted from the hamlet and included on a couple of mapped and signposted walks from the village.

Only one capstone 2.5 m by 2 m remains on its supports but a couple more can be seen. The main chamber is orientated 080° and several side slabs can be seen sticking out of the mound which is approximately rectangular 11 metres long 6 metres wide and up to 2 metres in height.

Bignon Menhir

Trip No.202  Entry No.51  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Couldn't find on 1st May 2005

Log Text: To the southwest of the dolmen is supposedly a menhir and it is marked both on my ign map and on the local maps and footpath signposts. However it is probably to be found in very thick woodland and try as hard as I did I found no sight of it.

Bons Tassilly polissoirs

Trip No.202  Entry No.14  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Polissoir Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: Two polissoirs can be found beside the river which forms the gorge surrounding the Mont Joly promontory site. Follow signs to the Brèche de Diable park the car and then walk along the footpath which follows the river up this splendid rocky gorge. After several hundred metres the path diverges from the river and starts uphill to the left when you come to a fenced area. At this point go down towards the stream and the two polissoir stones can be found one on each side of the river.

The first one on the near side of the river is a block of hard stone sticking out of the hillside about 2 metres long and a metre wide. On the top surface of this stone are two large polished bowl areas and three grooves made by polishing the hard stone into tools. It is wonderful to sit down on one of the ends of this stone and imagine polishing away to make an axe or similar. In fact I was very tempted to just sit there and make one !

The polissoir on the far side of the stream has now been fenced off within private ground and cannot be reached although can clearly be seen.

Bretteville-le-Rabet

Trip No.202  Entry No.9  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Not marked on any map I was told of this place by a man who collects flint artefacts I met at Cairon so I went for a quick look. Nothing much to see but the fields here were freshly ploughed and within 5 minutes of looking along the edges of the fields by the roadside I had found 4 worked flint artefacts.

Broussardière Menhir

Trip No.202  Entry No.36  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 29th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This menhir is about 2.5 to 3 metres in height and about 1.5 metres in width. It is found just a few yards away from the side of the road from Larchamp to Montflaux near a little pond beside a stream and is easy to see despite the very frisky bullocks in the adjacent field trying to get at me!

Camp Celtique de Bière

Trip No.202  Entry No.64  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Yes on 2nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 5 Access 4

Log Text: This is a massive fortified encampment which has been dated back to 4000 BC but with traces of habitation from long before that. The site generally consists of three enclosures on a headland well protected on three sides by steep sided gorges cut by a couple of small streams. The unprotected southern side has three ramparts of various size dates and condition protecting the camp the three ramparts not close together and separating the three enclosures.

It is thought the first encampment was built during the bronze age and was modified at a couple of different times during the Iron Age. The northern rectangular enclosure is the most heavily defended with massive drystone walls thrown up all around particularly at the southern end where the walling is up to 8 metres high. There is the remains of what was once perhaps an entrance through the wall and several of the significant stones used in facing the wall have fossilised trilobites and other marine creatures in them.

It is signposted from nearby and there is a parking area provided a few hundred metres walk to the site. It is now regularly studied and being restored and the enclosed area is now a nature reserve with little signed walks.

Chataigneraie Menhir

Trip No.202  Entry No.21  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Yes on 24th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: This menhir is about 3 metres tall and can be found a couple of miles south of the village of Saint-Siméon from where it is signposted though its not on my ign map. It is a lovely smoothed menhir standing at the edge of a little copse across a field from the small lane.

Clivay Menhir

Trip No.202  Entry No.37  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: A 2.5 to 3 metre tall menhir in a splendid position near the l’Ernée river below a lovely castle/chateau on top of a bluebell filled wooded hillock. It looks as if the top may have been broken off. There are several other large blocks of stone around I wonder if this was once a large boulder that fell from the sort of tor that the chateau is built on that was modified into a menhir.

Colombiers-sur-Seulles tumulus

Trip No.202  Entry No.2  Date Added: 25th Mar 2020
Site Type: Chambered Tomb Country: France (Normandie:Calvados (14))
Visited: Yes on 23rd Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: A long barrow which has been excavated and destroyed several times in the past but which has recently been restored to some form of its former glory by local enthusiasts. It is situated about half a kilometre east of the village just beyond the menhir signposted in a little copsed area just south of the road.

The barrow is about 50 metres in length and about 9 metres in width at the narrow west end and 18 metres width at the wide eastern end with an orientation of 280°. It is about 5 metres in height at its maximum and has several drystone walled sections running around it. In the middle of the mound is a little circular burial chamber about 2.5 metres in diameter with its entrance chamber running from the north side at an orientation of 010°. The chamber is made using 6 large upright stones with drystone walling between them but how much is now original is not known. The view along the entrance chamber does not see over the local horizon which is just a hundred metres or so distant. At the smaller western end there is a pair of large upright stones set into the external wall and as far as I can find once formed the entrance to another smaller burial chamber.

This is obviously now a well looked after and cared for monument set within a fenced off area using rustic fencing and also within the area are a mock up of an ancient oven and some hearths. with drystone walling between them but how much is now original is not known.

Dolmen de l'Hôtel-Dieu

Trip No.202  Entry No.80  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Eure (27))
Visited: Saw from a distance on 3rd May 2005

Log Text: Seen a couple of hundred metres away in the middle of a field just to the northeast of the crossroads at La Trigalle It looks fairly similar to the nearby Pierre Courcoulée.

Dolmen de la Crête

Trip No.202  Entry No.39  Date Added: 28th Mar 2020
Site Type: Passage Grave Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: To find this allée couverte do not attempt to get to it from the east side through the forest (which looks to be easy on my map but most certainly is not) but proceed towards it from the village of Vautorte a couple of kilometres to the west. Signposted from the village (badly) when you get to near the site there is nowhere to park a camper van although a car may be OK.

This allée couverte is extremely well hidden in Mayenne Forest. The last signpost I saw vaguely pointed into the middle of the forest and any of three tracks could have been the right one ! This being my third attempt to find this (it’s well known from the excavations done here) I didn’t give up and after almost an hour searching I found it. It’s becoming well overgrown despite the fairly recent excavations. The main chamber is about 9 metres long by 1.5 metres wide oriented east west at 080°. Four capstones remain resting on the 11 stone uprights on the north side and 8 on the south side. The entrance is probably from the east end which is only one metre wide and less high and there seems to be a small antechamber at the west end. Some stones of its cairn remain around the outside.

Dolmen de la Ferme Brûlée

Trip No.202  Entry No.82  Date Added: 30th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Centre:Eure-et-Loire (28))
Visited: Yes on 3rd May 2005

Log Text: Down by the banks of the river Eure are marked on my map a dolmen and polissoir. I couldn’t park close so parked and walked back from some distance away during which time I got soaked by a torrential downpour. I eventually found a house called Le Dolmen but with lots of keep out signs and security devices. Down the far end of the driveway I could see the dolmen and managed a long distance photo of it part hidden by a van. There was no way I could get any sight of the polissoir which was a shame.

Dolmen de la Forge

Trip No.202  Entry No.77  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Eure (27))
Visited: Yes on 3rd May 2005

Log Text: Having failed to find this after several attempts yesterday, the next day I checked out the position of this dolmen on the ign 1:25000 map in the supermarket and it looked simple to find so thought I’d have another go. Its north of the town on the little road that runs on the west side of the Risle river. Just past the hamlet of La Forge it should be between the very small road and the river.

After I eventually found somewhere to park and walked back about a kilometre the dolmen is nigh on impossible to spot. But there it is in a very private garden with double barbed wire fences a large hedge and guard dogs the dolmen can be spotted through the trees about 70 metres away from the road.

Getting a picture is a different matter! It looks a bit like the one at Verneusses with a large capstone on several supports.

Dolmen de la Pierre (Hercé)

Trip No.202  Entry No.25  Date Added: 26th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Pays de la Loire:Mayenne (53))
Visited: Yes on 24th Apr 2005. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 3

Log Text: This small dolmen can be found a few hundred metres to the south of the D33 road turning first left travelling westwards from Hercé. It is a simple dolmen with a large capstone supported by several small uprights in a field just in front of a farmhouse. Access to the dolmen was not available at the time of my visit as it was in a field of young cows but there was a signpost towards it as if it is possible to get to it at other times.

Dolmen de la Pierre Couplée

Trip No.202  Entry No.75  Date Added: 29th Mar 2020
Site Type: Burial Chamber or Dolmen Country: France (Normandie:Orne (61))
Visited: Yes on 2nd May 2005. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: The remains of this dolmen are now within a ploughed field just to the northwest of the village of Ferté Frêsnel on the road to Bocquencé. There is a small signpost to the dolmen but as seems almost always in these parts there is nowhere at all to park.

The dolmen is now very badly looked after ploughed right up to the edges and indeed hit with the machinery in one or two places and covered in muck from muckspreading. The large broken capstone is 4 m by 3 m and there are three collapsed support slabs.