Gestel - From the Lain to the Verger circuit

This vast estate was built at the end of the 19th century, on the site of the old manor house. It was burnt down in 1992, and today only the facade has been restored. In the former Lain estate, already present in the 16th century, only the common land dating from the 17th century remains, on either side of the chateau.

In Brittany, before the land reforms, apple trees were everywhere, in orchards or dotted about the crop fields. Apples provided an incredible diversity of varieties, bred over the years by the countryfolk. In the park, the conservative orchard is a reminder of this activity, and contains many ancient varieties, including eating apples that can be kept over winter and cider apples.

Dans la seconde moitié du 19e siècle, l’émergence de sources dans cette zone a été prétexte à l’aménagement d’un ensemble de pièces d’eau maçonnées, ayant une fonction utilitaire. Le terrain a été décaissé et cerné de murets. Grâce à des canaux, les fontaines alimentent divers bassins : deux rectangulaires à usage de lavoir et un troisième plus grand, dont on ne sait trop s’il remplaça l’ancien vivier.

In this part of the park, which in the 19th century was still moorland, a beech and oak wood developed. Beech and oak are the dominant species. It also includes birch, holly, elderberry, hawthorn, etc. This diverse woodland promotes the development of saplings, brambles and ferns on the floor. It is also a refuge and food store for mammals, birds, molluscs and insects.

Kergornet chapel was a flamboyant Gothic style edifice from the third quarter of the 15th century, destroyed by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt in 1952. It was built thanks to the generosity of the nearby lords of Vergier and Kermorvan, and its nave was enlarged in 1649 by lord Le Lain. A square bell tower was added in 1786, to the north semi-transept in the 19th century.The present building, which has been reused, retains some of these elements, such as a niche in the interior ogee or the coats of arms of the founding lords on the west elevation, symbolised by a greyhound wearing the shield and a dog wearing a helmet. The largely original north porch gives an idea of the architectural quality of the primitive building: a door flanked by pinnacles and surmounted by an ogee adorned with cabbages, corbels adorned with grimacing masks, men's and women's heads.The Christ on the cross, dates from 1662. Below the village, the devotional fountain is a triangular wall topped by a cross, and is extended by a wash-house which was refurbished in the 20th century. Kergornet was a very popular place of pilgrimage. On May 1st, wet nurses came to pray to the Virgin and Child to have good milk. Its 17th century statue, now kept in the church, shows Mary breastfeeding the infant Jesus; a fairly common representation in Brittany, although few examples have survived over the centuries.

From the end of the Middle Ages, villages started to emerge with the gradual setting up of traffic routes. These routes linked the villages to the fountains, fields, manor, town, and created links between villages.  The pathways were created by peasants who dug a trench and used the soil and stones to build the embankments, comprised of dry stones. Planted with trees, they took on their name of sunken paths, as they were eroded over time and dug out by the rains.

Starting in Rédéné, Finistère, the 14.2 km long river Scave is an important tributary on the right bank of the Scorff estuary. Crossing upstream meadows and fields, it flows into a lake. This reservoir, about 1.5 km long, created by a dam downstream, was once used to supply the Moulin Neuf.In the 19th century, there were two lakes, the Verger and the Pont-Neuf, separated by the Cornet Bridge, probably an ancient crossing point to reach Notre-Dame de Kergornet. These developments are linked to the Vergier estate upstream and attested as early as the 13th century. A manor house was built there in the 15th century and a recreational chateau in the 19th century.  Nearby, on the banks of the Scave, the Verger mill, dating from 1656, was completed by the Neuf Mill in the 18th century, which led to the creation of the ponds.

The increased flow of the river Scave in winter caused the erosion of the bank in this area, threatening the road for nearly fifty metres. In the autumn of 2020, staff from the Environment and Sustainable Development Services of Lorient Agglomeration protected the bank by creating a willow fascine. This bioengineering technique, which makes it possible to create a living protection inspired by nature, consists of driving two rows of chestnut stakes more than two metres long and 70 cm apart into the ground. Willow branches are then placed between the stakes, one by one, like fish scales. They are compacted and bound. Willow cuttings were also planted to help anchor the riverbank. Less expensive than stone riprap, the fascine is a sustainable structure, using materials found nearby. It blends in well with the landscape and offers good protection against erosion by dissipating uprooting forces. It improves the self-purifying abilities of the environment and provides food, shelter and breeding sites for wildlife.

The trees growing on the slopes of the Scave Valley reveal their tortuous roots which spread down and out for up to thirty meters. Roots and rootlets anchor the tree and pump the water and mineral salts necessary to nourish the plant. The tree is a complex living organism whose trunk, covered with protective bark is the main part. The raw sap rises up the trunk through the sapwood to the branches. This activity increases in the spring causing buds and leaves to grow, followed by flowers and fruit. The transformed sap flows down through the phloem, a film hidden under the bark. It activates the cambium, another very thin layer between the phloem and the sapwood, containing the wood cells that allow the tree to grow by making a new ring every year. In the centre of the trunk, the heartwood, where the sap no longer circulates, reinforces the tree's solidity. Trees play a vital role in nature. They purify the atmosphere, contribute to the proper functioning of the water cycle and form humus in forests. They provide food and shelter for birds, mammals, molluscs and insects. They are also a precious resource for humans. They are food and provide renewable energy for heating and cooking, for building and manufacturing. A source of tranquillity, we feel safe under their foliage. Let's preserve them.

The Moulin Neuf, already shown on the Cassini map in 1885, was rebuilt after 1945. This grain mill was powered by hydraulic energy.  A low-head dam water reservoir was built to create a pool which fed the wheel and operated the mechanism that crushed the grain.It stopped being used in the 1970s. Having lost its practical function, the pool has silted up. Its shallow waters are too rich in nutrients and the low-head dam impedes the free movement of fish. A project is being drawn up to redevelop the site sustainably.On the Gestel side, 23 hectares of protected woods and meadows have been developed for walking. They contain numerous plants and animals due to the presence of water and wooded areas. The pond is ideal for birdwatching: grebes, teals, little egrets, water hens, mallards, woodpeckers, kingfishers, etc.

This fountain and washhouse is part of the chateau de Kerrousseau, and was built in the 19th century. The spring feeds a fountain that overflows into a stone channel in the washhouse. The two solid-bottomed basins lined with cut stones were used in ancient times to wash laundry.

This curious ruin is not a well, but a manhole giving access to a water conduit supplied by the park’s springs. In 1886, the town of Lorient looking for freshwater, was catching water from streams in the surrounding rural communes. Along its aqueducts, the network brought water by gravity to the north of the town. It was untreated and stored in a reservoir called “Petit Paradis” (little paradise). Water from the Scorff was added in 1911, and the system was in operation until 1960.

This part of the Kerrousseau departmental wood contains typical Breton forest trees, such as beech, oak and chestnut. The latter are said to have been introduced by the Romans. They played an important role in the daily life of the peasants who used it as food and for carpentry and heating fuel.

Opened in 1990, Val Quéven Golf Course is located in the former grounds of Kerrousseau. You will discover it all along this circuit. For your safety, the golf course is only open to players.

At the bottom of the valley, this stream and its marshy edges play a fundamental role in the water cycle. The wet area acts like a sponge and stocks the winter rainwater; it helps to limit flooding and provide water to the stream during dry periods. Acting like a natural filter, the soil and plants that develop here help to improve the quality of the water by eliminating pollution. This environment is also colonised by willow trees, easily recognisable in the spring by its white flowers or catkins.

To preserve biodiversity at the site, and protect and promote the plants, the Le Lain gardens are sustainably managed: preservation of ancient woodlands and natural areas along water courses, mowing of grass meadows, planting of a variety of species. Other small heritage structures (fountains, dry stone walls) are also regularly maintained and renovated.

This wide trench and its vertical masonry wall at the edge of the garden was used to prevent animals from entering, while keeping the perspective and symmetry of an uninterrupted view. Called in French “saut-du-loup” (wolf’s leap) or ha-ha, it was built at the start of the 19th century. To the south once there was a pool, used to keep a reserve of fish.

The gardens were rearranged after 1875, with new pathways and planting of exotic plants. Loved by the nobility and bourgeoisie, plants and trees from America and Asia were introduced into estate parks and gardens. The gardens at Lain conserve some remarkable species from 150 years ago, some reaching up to 30 metres high, like the Monterey cypresses and the Douglas firs.

This wide trench and its vertical masonry wall at the edge of the garden was used to prevent animals from entering, while keeping the perspective and symmetry of an uninterrupted view. Called in French “saut-du-loup” (wolf’s leap) or ha-ha, it was built at the start of the 19th century. To the south once there was a pool, used to keep a reserve of fish.