Pont-Scorff Circuit of Saint-Urchaut by the Green Way

Le Strapontin is a team of volunteers and employees who want to create exceptional moments between artists and the inhabitants of Pont-Scorff. Comedians, storytellers and puppeteers present their shows. In 2023, the Pont-Scorff theatre will celebrate its 25th anniversary!

Named after the Abbé Terrien, this old street still has some beautiful houses, the most recent of which were built in the 19th and 20th centuries, others in the 17th century, such as this old store that has kept its protruding stone stall at the end of the street. It now houses the Atelier d'Estienne, a contemporary art space. Take the time to discover this beautiful historic town, combining ancient heritage and modern works.

Located on the former parish of the village of Lesbin, Pont-Scorff owes its name to the river Scorff. In the Middle Ages, a bridge on the road connecting Vannes to Quimper, promoted the development of the town. From the 13th century, the religious orders of Hospitaliers de Saint-Jean and the seigneur de la Roche-Moysan set up here. The current town hall is a former justice hall built around 1577. In the 19th century, the town was laid out around a triangular square. Character houses, a town hall school and a church that replaced Saint-Aubin’s church in the village of Lesbin, were built near Pont-Scorff.

After the commentary, turn right into the alleyway after the church. In 1894, Mr. Donald Le Court de Béru, owner of the Saint-Urchaut manor house, donated a piece of land purchased in 1886 on the square to the town, on condition that a church be built there. It replaced the ruined chapel and the church of Lesbin, too far from the village. Essentially made of granite, the église Sacré-Cœur de Jésus was built between 1892 and 1897 on a Latin cross floor plan. Large and bright, it is composed of three naves. Its brickwork pointed vaults are covered with a plaster coating with a stone-style decoration. The nave, aisles, transept, choir and side chapels house furniture and statuary contemporary to the construction. A small peculiarity, due to lack of financial resources, the main elevation remained unfinished and a wooden bell tower was built behind the side chapels. At first temporary, it became permanent. It is said that a donor proposed to fund it, as long as his coat of arms was inscribed on the construction. His proposal, considered unfashionable, was not accepted. It is said that the town of Pont-Scorff was spared Allied bombardments between 1939 and 1945 because it didn’t have a high bell tower.

Abritant artisans d’art, espaces d’exposition et de nombreux créateurs, la Cour des métiers d’art occupe une maison construite en 1564. Avant de repartir, ne manquez pas de flâner dans la typique rue Terrien. L’Atelier d’Estienne, espace d’art contemporain, est installé dans une maison de marchand du 17e siècle qui conserve son escalier en vis dans une tourelle et, côté rue, son étal de marchand saillant en pierre.

This ancient street, called casse-cou (breakneck) due to difficulty of access for teams of horses, was by-passed in the 19th century to facilitate traffic. At the time and until after the war, millers, professional salmon fishermen, poachers, washerwomen and brewers all worked in Bas Pont-Scorff. Each door leads into a shop: cafés, butchers’ and grocers abound... but also hotels and inns to welcome travellers. After 1990, tourism and environmental activities developed on the site. At the Moulin des Princes, the mission of the counting station of the National Institute for Agronomic Research and the Morbihan Fishing Federation, is to count migrating fish. The observation targets salmon especially, that leave the river Scorff to feed in the North Sea, coming back to spawn in the spring.

Comprised of four arches and three piers, the Pont Saint-Jean has been strengthened with buttress spurs to resist the currents. It was built from the 16th and 18th centuries and owes its name to the religious order of the Hospitaliers de Saint-Jean, who built a chaplaincy and a chapel here, some ruins of which remain. The bridge was built on the route of the old Roman road from Hennebont to Quimperlé, and is also known as the Pont Romain. It is also called the Vieux Pont (old bridge) in comparison to the Pont Neuf (new bridge), built further upstream in 1851.

At the end of the 19th century, economic activity stretched further downstream. Stopovers by barges from Lorient increased, transporting mainly wood and food. Quays and a slipway were built. After 1945, military activities on the river Scorff put an end to this transport, already competing with road and rail. Various industrial activities, including a dairy, appeared on the site. On the Cléguer side, an old industrial site was turned into a nature site.

With its source in the Côtes-d’Armor department, the river Scorff is 75 km long. Its estuary stretches over 12 km, from Bas Pont-Scorff to Lorient. The landscape is typical of the meeting between river and sea, freshwater and salt water. The wooded banks are interspersed with marshes and reed beds, flooded at high tides. This bay offers a shelter and a wonderful food store for river and seabirds, such as cormorants and gulls. The little egret can be seen here, fishing for fish, worms and crab. This small white heron nests in the trees.

Saint-Urchaut manor was built around 1650 and in the 18th and 19th centuries a storey was added and a store and pavilion extension. A man called Jean Grasset built it and used the ground floor as a storehouse. At the same time, this master carpenter built a ship for the royal navy near the port of Saint-Urchaut, a little upstream. With one quay, it was used to transit goods between Lorient and Pont-Scorff before the slipway was built in Bas Pont-Scorff. Today the site hosts many events, including the Salmon Festival in July and contemporary art exhibitions.

In this area, reeds have gradually taken over the marshes, previously cut prairies that have been abandoned. Moving up the Saint-Urchaut stream, you will discover its flora and fauna along the nature pathway laid out by the town of Pont-Scorff. On the hillside, Saint-Urchaut farm grows organic vegetables and sells seasonal baskets to visitors. 

This lookout area under the Rocher du Corbeau offers a plunging panorama of the meanders of the Scorff, its reed beds that change colour with the season and its mud flats laid bare at low tide. The Rocher du Corbeau is well known to fishermen as it marks the end of the maritime domain and the start of regulated river fishing. On the headland, you can still see the visible remains of a Middle Age fort.

Many fish and crustacean live in these brackish waters; you can see trout, mullet, plaice, sea bass, shrimp, oysters... Other species are only passing, such as salmon, and eel that head for the Sargasso Sea to reproduce in the autumn. These species are an important source of food for the local population. Up to the 20th century, fishing for salmon using boats with square nets suspended on long rods, was authorised. The scarcity of fish has now put a stop to this practice. Migrating salmon can travel thousands of kilometres, braving dangers and overcoming obstacles to feed, and return to their native river to breed without losing their way.

Freshwater from the river Scave on this mudflat has led to the rapid development of phragmites, otherwise known as reeds. In this Natura 2000 listed habitat, fish find refuge during flooding and feed on the micro-fauna present: plankton, molluscs, crustaceans, insects, etc. Many small mammals and birds feed and nest here. You may see the waterhen, the sedge warbler, the bluethroat, the common sandpiper or the common snipe. The common sandpiper, with its dark grey back and white belly, winters in this area. It is easily recognisable by its rapid flight just above the water. It is easier to see this little wader when it is feeding on the mudflats.

Located on the banks of the Scave River, Pont-Scorff Zoo was created by Pierre Thomas in 1973.  Over the years, the zoo has doubled in size to welcome new species and develop popular shows. The project started by Pierre Thomas continues today through Terres de Nataé, a symbol of protection and renewal, working to preserve threatened species and animal welfare. For more information, please visit the website www.lesterresdenatae.fr

This path, and further on, the bridge over the river Scave, are the remains of the railway network built in the Morbihan department at the end of the 19th century. The train was called the “potato train” and linked Lorient with Plouay. It has many functions, carrying passengers, bags, post, animals, cereal, etc. With competition from roads, it declined around 1930 and dismantling was begun. It started up again during the war only to be removed in 1947. Since 1960, the pipe carrying water from the Scorff to supply drinking water to the town of Lorient, passes under the bridge and path. On the other side of the road, the commemorative stone Kerruisseau was erected in memory of the French and American soldiers lost on 7th August 1944 on the Lorient pocket front line in the place called Bivière en Pont-Scorff. Be careful crossing!

Since its construction in the first half of the 16th century, St. Gildas' chapel has undergone numerous alterations. With the exception of the statue of St. Gildas, the statuary dates mainly from the end of the 19th century. Until the aftermath of the Second World War, the pardon, combining religious and secular celebrations, took place on Whit Monday. The villagers used to carry the processional statue of the saint to the fountain below the village.