Brittany 10

Brittany 10

Etel_, at the mouth of the channel that connects the inland sea with

the ocean, is a small port partly closed by a rock and by moving sands.

Near the village is a dolmen with seven supporters. A little further on

is one with five.

 

_Erdeven_ (Ar deven = on the sand-downs). All this district is covered

with wind-blown sands. The most remarkable prehistoric monument is the

alignment of Kerzerho, which extends over two miles and a quarter, and

is composed of 1030 stones, with, however, gaps caused by pilferers.

Unhappily the stones are still being broken up and carried away. The

lines are on the S. and S.E. of the village. After passing an isolated

menhir and a ruined cairn, the rows are reached running east. Then

comes a gap where the stones have been carried off to build walls,

but presently they reappear, the blocks smaller. Then ensues another

hiatus, and then another succession of ranges of fine stones stretching

to a tumulus. The northern line reaches to a tumulus, the Mané Bras. On

the summit are the ruins of two dolmens, with traces of an enclosing

circle of uprights. To the east of Kerangre is another group of

monoliths. At Mané Groh are two dolmens. The dolmen of Corcomo is the

finest in Morbihan.

 

_Plouhinic._ Near Kerfourchen two fallen dolmens and a menhir. From the

windmill to the west alignments running S.E. Near the Mill of Gueldra

the lines recommence in eight rows, and may be traced to Kervué and

Kervelhué.

 

BOURBRIAC (C.N.) chl. arr. Guingamp. The church is in part Romanesque,

and possesses a crypt. The windows are of 15th cent. The tower 1635. At

Tanvedou is a tumulus enclosing a dolmen.

 

_S. Adrien._ Chapel of Avangour, 1576, with marble retable of same

period.

 

_Cadout_ (S. Illtyd). Church of 14th and 15th cents., with a sculptured

retable. On high ground the manor house of Bois-de-la-Roche, 15th cent.

restored.

 

BRÉHAT (ISLE DE) (C.N.). Opposite Roscoff lighthouses. On the Isle of

Lavré the remains of a Celtic monastery have been traced, consisting

of a group of bee-hive huts and an oblong chapel. One hut is fairly

perfect, and is kept in repair as a sea mark. In the church is

preserved a piece of oriental silk called the stole of S. Pol de Léon.

 

* BREST (F.) chl. d'arrond. Was a fishing village about a mediæval

castle on the site of a Roman camp, till Cardinal Richelieu resolved

on giving to France the command of the seas, when he fixed on Brest

for a great dockyard, 1631. His undertaking was not followed up by

Mazarin, but Colbert pursued it with energy, and extensive works were

executed. Thanks to this great minister and to Admiral Duquesne,

Brest became a naval and military port of the first class. The Breton

parliament had not relished the undertaking, and forbade the delivery

of timber to the royal works, and ordered the cessation of the forging

of cannon, but the royal will was supreme, and the opposition of the

parliament disregarded. The port was extended, and the rocks blasted;

barracks, storehouses, workshops, were created, and fine quays were

constructed. Vauban fortified it, Recouvrance was united to Brest by

a turning bridge. From Brest issued a fleet of 80 ships of the line

under Tourville in the naval campaigns of 1690 and 1691. In 1694 an

Anglo-Dutch fleet in vain attempted an attack on Brest. In the 18th

cent. its quays and fortifications were extended. Granite basins were

constructed capable of receiving vessels of 120 guns. Dajot, whilst

engaged on the defences of the place, constructed the terrace planted

with elms, that gives such a fine view of the harbour. Issuing from

Brest, the fleet commanded by d'Orvilliers met, July 27, 1778 the

English fleet off Ouessant. A French convoy was guarding a fleet of

vessels laden with grain from America, when it was attacked by Admiral

Howe. The French were under Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse. The English

fleet, which had been in quest, had been for four days unable to find

the French owing to fog. The engagement took place on the 27th July.

There were 26 French men-of-war and 35 English.

 

After Trafalgar Napoleon abandoned the ambition of making France a

great naval power, and it was not till under Napoleon III. that fresh

activity was displayed at Brest.

 

The harbour is perhaps the finest in Europe. It is 36 kilometres in

circumference, and is entered only through the channel of the Goullet,

illumined by five lighthouses.

 

The castle of the 13th cent., on a precipitous rock, is flanked by

seven towers; the two largest are on the N.E., and the entrance is

between them. The tower of Azenore belongs to the end of the 12th

cent., and takes its name from the mother of S. Budoc, who was daughter

of the Count of Léon, and married to the Count of Goelo. The tower

of Caesar of the 12th cent., that des Anglais is of 1374, that de la

Madelaine is of the 15th cent., as is also the donjon.

 

Brest, apart from its dockyard, is a very uninteresting place. The

Church of S. Louis (1692-1778) is ugly, with modern stained glass in

the French style representing Breton saints. But Brest may be made a

centre for some interesting excursions, as to _Landevennec_, which is

more easily reached from Brest by steamer than by road.

 

_Landevennec_ is where a very important abbey was founded by S.

Winwaloe, in French Guenolé, at the beginning of the 6th century. The

Saint had settled first in the islet of Tibidy, but finding the place

too strait for him, came to Landevennec, where King Grallo granted him

lands in a warm and sheltered situation, under a hill that cut off

the blasts from the Atlantic. The ruins are in private grounds, but

visitors are admitted. The abbey church is of the 11th cent., and is

without transepts, but has a large chapel of a later date built on at

one side. In a crypt is the reputed tomb of King Grallo. The monastic

buildings were rebuilt in the 17th century. The Grève des Anglais is

so called because it was here that landed an expedition against Brest

which failed, because betrayed to the French Court by Marlborough and

Godolphin. The consequence was that eight hundred British soldiers fell

into a trap and were butchered to the last man.

 

_Goueznou._ Here is the sole church near Brest that possesses any

archæological value. But it is a really remarkable edifice. It has the

finest apse in the Department, next to Lampaul-Guimiliau, containing

three great gabled late flamboyant windows. The church also possesses

a tower with two galleries crowned by a spire. The porch was begun

in 1643, and belongs to the same family as those of Landerneau and

Trémaouézan. It was finished in 1644, so that there was no long delay

in its completion. The main body of the church was constructed in

1607-15. About ten paces west of the church is the monumental fountain

of the Saint. It consists of a tank in an enclosure surrounded by

stone seats for the accommodation of bathers. On the south side is

a small altar surmounted by a niche, that contains a statue of S.

Gouezenou. P. Ascension Day. _Lambezellec_, with a modern church, has a

much frequented Pardon on the 2nd S. in August. _Plouzané._ Lechs and

menhirs. P. Sunday nearest 10th Aug.

 

_Guipavas._ The church possesses a porch enriched internally with

statues, 1565.

 

_Le Conquet._ Modern church, but with glass of the 16th cent. preserved

in it. In it is the tomb of Michel de Nobletz, a famous Jesuit, born

1577, died 1654, whose beatification is proposed. He laboured in Lower

Brittany to turn the people from their pagan superstitions. On the

promontory of Kermorvan two dolmens and a circle of upright stones.

 

_Plougonvelen._ Fine coast scenery. Here, in an imposing position above

the sea, are the ruins of the Abbey of S. Mathieu. The monastery was

destroyed at the Revolution. The church (1152-1208) was much altered

in the 14th and 15th cents. The abbey was founded in the 6th cent.

by S. Tanguy. Near it is now a lighthouse. Of the parish church the

only portions that are ancient are the porch and the N. transept. P.

Sunday nearest 21st Sept. Off the promontory can be seen the clusters

of islands leading in a N.W. direction to _Ouessant_. Of these the Ile

de Banque, le Guéménés, and the Ile Molène are the principal. Ouessant

and these islands can be reached from Conquet, a steamer leaving there

thrice a week. The _Ile Molène_ is only three-quarters of a mile long

and about half-a-mile wide, and contains 570 inhabitants. Property in

it is minutely subdivided. It was here that the bodies were washed

ashore after the wreck of the _Drummond Castle_ on June 16, 1896. The

_Ile d'Ouessant_ is about seven miles long and three broad; plenty of

fresh water is found on the island, that contains 2280 inhabitants. It

was here that Paulus Aurelianus, a native of Glamorganshire, landed

when migrating from Britain at the head of a considerable party. He,

however, did not remain above two or three years in the island, and

then crossed over to the mainland. The church Lampaul (Lann-Paul) on

Ouessant was founded by him. The cliffs are abrupt, and the rocks

pierced with caves and natural arches. The island produces potatoes,

and gives good feed to sheep. It is in process of being extensively

fortified for the protection of Brest.

 

BROONS (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Bertrand du Guesclin was born here in

1320. The castle has completely disappeared, but a column has been

erected on the site in commemoration of the fact.

 

_Sevignac._ The Château of Brondineuf of the 12th cent. is well

preserved.

 

CANCALE (I. V.) chl. arr. S. Malo. A little port, and a favourite

watering place. It is noted for its oysters. During one part of

the year nearly all the male population is absent on the banks of

Newfoundland engaged in the cod-fisheries. The rochers de Cancale are

a mass of granite rising precipitously above the sea not far from the

mainland. Much granite is quarried at Cancale. The church of S. Méen is

modern.

 

* CARHAIX (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. An old Roman town, Vorganium,

lies high and in dreary country. Scanty remains of a Roman aqueduct are

pointed out. The church (S. Tremor) is modern and good, with a fine

East window; the tower is of 1529-35, with a West doorway, the carving

of foliage on which is deserving of notice. More interesting is the

church of Plouguer, originally very early in the 11th cent., containing

some arches and piers and clerestory windows. It was enlarged in the

16th cent. (1574), and was ruthlessly mutilated in the 18th when the

flamboyant tracery was hacked out of the windows, and the screen was

demolished. The tower is remarkably fine, with bold splayed belfry

windows. It was intended to support a spire which was never added.

There is a handsome old house in the town of carved stone and timber.P. at S. Roque last S. but one in August.