Sunday 27 September 2009
Image credit: Tim Clark
Images
Image credit: Moth Clark
Close-up of the text on the modern menhir
Image credit: Graham Orriss
Close-up of the modern menhir next to the monument. A mother, apparently, wearing a traditional Breton hat. Inscription below her head contains names of the deceased soldiers.
Image credit: Graham Orriss
Full view of the monument, with the modern menhir between it and the church entrance.
Image credit: Graham Orriss
Another angle of the menhir at Plozévet.
Image credit: Graham Orriss
The war memorial at Plozévet, incorporating the tall menhir
Image credit: Graham Orriss
Articles
This menhir at Plozevet church is still being used. It’s been incorporated into a war memorial. Accompanied by a statue of a soldier and the carved names of all those young men from Plozevet who died during two world wars, this mighty 4.5m tall menhir rises above it all. It somehow gives the memory of all those chaps an extra poignancy. I like to think that the original function of the menhir may have been to mark some great Neolithic warrior chief whose name is lost in time. But in remembering his modern Breton brothers we remember him.
If it wasn’t for the entry in Aubrey Burl’s “Megalithic Brittany”, I’d probably have passed this by believing it to be a folly!
According to Burl, “It is a thin, grey pillar, striated by the weather. It stands at 2.3 metres high and has been incorporated into a memorial to the dead of the First World War”.
Now – I’ve seen a few standing stones in churchyards, and a few christianised ones, but never, until now, one that’s been turned into a war memorial!
It’s a fine sight, though. Sort of jumps out at you as you round the corner. The later additions are quite odd. Really makes it look like the whole thing is a modern construct.
The war memorial, as far as I can tell, was built by René Quillivic. According to Wikipedia:
”After World War I he had the opportunity to pursue his art in the form of war memorials, in which he typically emphasised pacifist ideals. Most of these were located in Finistère (Carhaix, Coray, Fouesnant, Loudéac, Plouhinec, Plouyé, Plozévet, Pont-Croix, Pont-l’Abbé, and Saint-Pol-de-Leon).”
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Quillivic
Slightly separate from the main memorial is another (modern) menhir, with the head of a woman and an inscription bearing names of the deceased.
At the other end of the churchyard is the “fontaine de Saint Théleau à Plozevet” – a delightful little holy well which I sadly didn’t take any photos of!
Access:
About 21km on the D784 from Quimper towards Audierne, on the right hand side of the road, in the churchyard. there is a car park next to the church.
Sites within 20km of Plozévet
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Menhir des Droits de l’Homme
photo 2 description 1 -
Pors Poulhan
photo 11 description 1 -
Cairn de Menez Dregan
photo 8 -
Crugou and Renongar
photo 1 description 1 -
Kerbalanec
photo 7 description 1 -
Ty ar Chorriket
photo 18 description 3 -
Beg an Dorchenn
photo 17 description 1 -
Kerugou
photo 10 description 1 -
Park Men Bris
photo 1 description 1 -
Musee Prehistorique
photo 7 description 1 -
Menez-Landu
photo 3 description 1 -
Le Guirec
photo 3 description 2 -
Lestriguiou
photo 6 description 1