Inguiniel The Chevreuils and Lann Bourgeol Circuit

Welcome to Inguiniel, a rural commune of 5,140 hectares, home to 2,200 inhabitants. Not so long ago, Inguiniel boasted four elementary schools, two in the village (private and public) and two on the road from Plouay to Bubry. While the Notre-Dame school in Poulgroix has closed, the Plumes school in Locunel continues to welcome children. The local authority, the parents' association, the children and a group of graffiti artists from the Lorient region have joined forces to create a vast mural on the school's buildings. A great idea that has led to other works of art springing up on houses between Poulgroix and Bubry.

Here you are in the heart of the village of Locunel, where the Plouay-Bubry road used to run before it was straightened out in the 80s. At the side of the road, you can see a monolithic cross, clearly dating from the Middle Ages. It may have been a crossroads cross indicating the route to Lochrist chapel to the north. Oral tradition has it that there was once a chapel here too. The recent discovery of a tombstone and cross in a village garden seems to corroborate this hypothesis. In 1843, on the Napoleonic land registry, the village comprised around thirty buildings: longères and cottages, barns and stables around courtyards and gardens, i.e. around ten farms, as well as two bread ovens and three fountains. At the far end of the village, stone dwellings and barns dating from the 18th and 19th centuries give an idea of the quality of Inguiniel's rural architectural heritage.

While the northern part of Inguiniel parush is bordered by the Scorff river, here we're in the Blavet watershed. Lochrist fountain, like the Locunel fountains, gives rise to streams that feed the Moulin de Tallené stream, which flows into the Blavet at Sebrevet, between Lanvaudan and Quistinic. On the way back down to Locunel, admire the wet meadows where rushes, sedges and willows grow. At the bottom of the valley, these spongey areas store rainwater purifying it before it flows back into springs and streams.

On the right, don't miss Lochrist’s cross and fountain. Now standing in the middle of a field, they once lined the road up to Lochrist, which was straightened out during the land reforms. The cross stands on an ashlar base with steps. Dated 1611 or 1617, it features Christ on one side and the Virgin and Child on the other.  The round-arched fountain is set into the surrounding wall. The back stone is carved with a figure. The paved area is entered by two steps surmounted by a stile, a stone on its edge used to prevent animals from entering the sacred space. The spring flows into a square basin feeding a rectangular washhouse outside the enclosure.

Lochrist, holy place or sanctuary of Christ in Breton, is crossed by the ancient Gallo-Roman road from Rennes to Quimperlé via Castennec. In the 19th century, the large hamlet of around 50 buildings comprised three main quarters spread around the chapel. Each complex featured a bread oven and three or four farmhouses organised around courtyards. This layout has remained unchanged, despite recent constructions and conversion of older buildings.

Lochrist chapel was built in the 17th century and renovated in 1837. Trev-Christ, Christ’s parish, was a branch of the parish church for the local faithful who, far from the town, attended Sunday mass here. Take some time to discover the partly preserved parish enclosure: its surrounding wall, the triumphal gate and its two secondary gates with stile, the Latin cross-shaped chapel, once surrounded by a cemetery, the ossuary adjoining the building and the calvary.  The latter, dated 1671, was moved from the south to the west around 1955. It features Christ surrounded by two thieves and a Virgin and Child flanked by Saint Peter and another figure. At the foot of the cross, the Virgin Mary and Saint John are facing each other. The curved altar-shaped base is carved with an angel's head at each corner.

Inguiniel is a rural parish with a strong agricultural identity. The landscape is largely dominated by farming, with more than half of its 5,140 hectares cultivated or grassed. Some sixty farmers and employees perform a wide range of activities: dairy workshops, cow, pig and beef farms, broiler and cockerel farms, cereal and forage production, and orchards.

As you pass through the Roscouëdo woods, a combination of local species and pine trees, you may be lucky enough to spot roe deer. In the 19th century and up until the 1960s, this was essentially a vast moorland area, which to this day is largely owned by the inhabitants of the village of Roscouëdo. These commons have had a specific status in Brittany since the Middle Ages: often left uncultivated, all inhabitants could enjoy them freely, especially the poorest. The heathland, or lann in Breton, dominated by broom, gorse and heather, was part of the pastoral agrarian system. It provided grazing, fodder and firewood, especially from the gorse which was planted there. Soil fertilisation has almost entirely destroyed this natural habitat.

This is the highest point in the village. Rising to 171 metres, it offers a fine view over the bocage. The ancient Bocadé moor that you've just crossed has been planted with various species, as it lies within a drinking water catchment area, declared to be of public interest by prefectorial decree in 1997. Woods were planted to improve water quality, following the closure of the Roscouëdo water production plant in 1996 due to high nitrate levels. As you approach the village, you'll see the small factory building, installed on the old village spring and fountain in the 1970s-1980s. 

As you pass through Roscouëdo, take a look at the granite houses with their carefully-crafted bay windows. These are the hamlet's old farmhouses laid the road, the oldest dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, the village also boasted a bread oven and an oven barn. The one you see as you leave Roscouëdo is more recent. The hamlet also boasts two typical western Morbihan wells, almost identical and built just a few dozen metres apart. Both are private, but one may have inspired the other. They are circular and surmounted by a lintelled superstructure on a pedestal, adorned with five balls, and human masks, and on one well is a monstrance.

Lochrist chapel has kept its late 17th century altarpiece. Created by local artists in imitation of scholarly models, its ornamentation is distinctive, with smooth columns and Corinthian capitals, shells, acanthus leaves, bouquets and garlands of flowers. The niches feature a Holy Trinity, with God holding Christ on the cross and the Holy Spirit represented by a dove. In addition to a Virgin and Child and a Saint John the Baptist, the church also features two saints emblematic of the rural world: Saint Isidore, depicted with her sheaf of wheat and sickle, and Saint Cornély, patron saint of horned animals and horses, celebrated here during the September pardon.

This wide road, partly created during the 1967 land reforms, crosses a stream at the bottom of the valley. Emerging just above the village of Croaz en Du, it feeds the Cabrec mill stream. Here, in the 1960s, there were only fields and pastures surrounded by wooded embankments. As in most areas, the slopes were then planted with softwoods, while the abandoned wet meadows were naturally reforested.

As you pass through Le Guern, on your right you'll see two ashlar stable dwellings dating from the 18th century, as indicated by the date 1731 or 1737 on one of the upstairs windows. Although upper floors were subsequently added to the buildings, the fireplaces, bays and staircase against the façade, reveal the meticulous workmanship of this farmhouse's builders. 

This promontory offers a view over the surrounding countryside with its vast fields. The 1967 land reforms led to fields being joined and many embankments eliminated. Here and there, portions of these embankments can still be seen, as well as some apple trees.  Once planted in open fields to produce cider and eau de vie, they are now planted at the edge of the fields.

Welcome to the forest of Lann Bourgeol. This former moorland, common land now belonging to the village, was planted with conifers during the 1968 land reforms, with the help of the European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund. This 70-hectare site, managed by the Office National des Forêts, is ideal for outdoor activities, with its lake, paths, orienteering course and hiking trail.

In 2013, following an invasion of the mountain pine beetle, an insect that attacks Sitka spruce, 30 hectares of forest were felled as a preventive measure. The land cleared was replanted between 2015 and 2016 with 30,000 seedlings: 56% Douglas fir, 28% Scots pine, 6% Laricio pine and 10% hardwoods, hornbeam and beech. These hardwoods are ideal near wetlands, as they acidify the water far less than softwoods.

The Cabrec mill stream flows along the bottom of the valley. Fed by streams rising near Guern and Poulgroix, it created the water reserve for the forest upstream. Here, lined with characteristic wetland vegetation of sedges and rushes, it once fed the Cabrec grain mill 800 metres below. A sub-tributary of the Blavet, it mixes with the Moulin de Tallené stream at Grand Plessis, then with the river at Sebrevet, between Lanvaudan and Quistinic.

You can't help but admire the patchwork of colours and curves of the bocage landscape from this high point, where moorland still stretched around 1850. In the spring, the landscape undulates, changing from bright greens to soft greens, from blond to russet. The last embankments and woods add a dark green note beneath a vast blue sky punctuated by clouds.  The path, which already existed in 1850, leads back down to Locunel, passing near the “Bois de Taratata”. A curious name that probably has something to do with the French expression taratata, to express negation or doubt. Maybe its owner used the word extensively? Not impossible when you know that nicknames are very popular locally. When it originated in the 19th century, “taratata” imitated the sound of a bugle, announcing the arrival of a regiment. Its current meaning only came about during the 20th century.