Gestel - Tro kreiz ker Circuit

The name of Gestel supposedly comes from the Breton “Guestel” or “Yestel” which means “house of deer”. Modest in size with 625 hectares, in the 14th century, Gestel was part of the nearby parish of Quéven before becoming a part of the parish of Lesbin Pont-Scorff in the 15th century. Since the third quarter of the 17th century at least, it has had its own church and minister who exercised his functions without the title of rector. In 1790, Gestel was promoted to the status of a commune attached to the canton of Pont-Scorff and on 26th January 1820 became an independent parish. In 1814, the roads converged in a star towards the church and cemetery, surrounded by a few buildings. The village stretches to the north-east with a dozen buildings along the road to Pont-Scorff. There are also about fifteen small hamlets.

In September 1863, the railway arrived in Gestel with the opening of the Lorient-Quimper section of the Savenay - Landerneau line. Passing through the town, it gave Gestel a railway station. From then on, farmers of the area used it to supply the markets of Lorient with fresh produce: butter, eggs, apples, etc. The single-story building is in keeping with the style used in sixteen of the line's stations, alternating red brick and white tufa stone. It also has a goods shed and a platform shelter built with the same materials. During the Second World War, a second track was created to transport construction materials to Kerlin Bastard airport, now known as Lann Bihoué. These additions were spared by the Allied bombing. The track to Lann Bihoué, repaired urgently and then restored in 1955, was removed in the 1980s and redeveloped as a hiking trail, the one you are on now. The arrival of the TGV Atlantique and the electrification of the line in 1991 and 1992 also brought much change. The overflow tracks were removed, the station and its hall destroyed, and all freight traffic has ceased. Gestel is now a small SNCF stop served by the local TER Bretagne train.

Passing through this wooded area, you will see the characteristic species of the Breton forest; oak and chestnut trees under which grow holly and ferns. But did you know that a forgotten dolmen is hidden at the bottom of this private wood? This stone table, “doal maen” in Breton, dates from the end of the Neolithic period, more than 5000 years ago. It indicates a tomb consisting of a burial chamber.  Formerly called “an tri men” (the three stones), in reference to the three pillars supporting the table, it is also listed by archaeologists under the mysterious name of Lonch-Torrigan or probably Lonch Korrigan, the house of the Korrigan. Do you know about these Breton elves? Tiny and wrinkled, thin and hairy, with long hair sometimes braided, and a forehead decorated with horns? It is known that there are at least four different populations of korrigans, living in woods, moors, wetlands and abandoned farms. This population obviously belongs to the woods or more likely to the moors that once dominated here. The elf of the woods is known as a Kornikaned: it usually sings and blows a small horn. From the moors, it’s a Kannerez Noz; a night singer who dances in circles with his comrades in the moonlight. One thing is certain: these little people live under the dolmens where they hide their treasure, according to the sayings. There are very few chances to see these discrete elves, except, obviously, at a full moon when they come out to have fun. But beware if they invite you to join in, because you will be condemned to sing and dance all night. If you stop, you’ll be cursed. However, if you meet the challenge, you may come away with the gold!

The village of Kerlédan has two ancient crosses. Although we no longer no the reason they were erected, it is certain that the villagers and travellers believed they protected them or commemorated some long-forgotten event. The first at the roadside, has a date, probably 1702, written upside down on the base. It has a chamfered and ringed shaft on a monolithic base, set on a square ashlar plinth with a step. The cross bears a Christ on the Cross with protruding ribs on the west side and a Virgin and Child on the reverse.

Probably dating from the end of the 17th century, the second cross, also on a monolithic base and an ashlar plinth with a step, is also chamfered and ringed. The crosspiece has a carved Christ on the front and a skull and crossbones on the back. Passing through the villages of Kerlédan and Penfrat, you will perhaps see what remains of the old stone farms of the 18th and 19th centuries, a house with living rooms upstairs, a barn with its cart door, an oven, a well and a trough. Under the Ancien Régime, Penfrat was the seat of one of the three seigneuries of Gestel. It belonged to the du Plessis family, also found in Kerouarc'h and Kermartin in Guidel. There are no remaining signs of this past, except perhaps the path to the windmill which you will take shortly. Less common than water mills, windmills located on the heights, were the property of the nobility.

A comparison of aerial views of the town of Gestel in 1950 and in 2020 reveals how much the place has changed. In 1960, the village boundaries were drawn around the church and the town hall, the roads and the railway, surrounded by meadows and cultivated fields surrounded by embankments. Then, like communes near the main traffic routes, bordering Lorient and the seaside, Gestel grew rapidly, especially in the second half of the 20th century. Ranging from 400 to 500 people between 1793 and 1968, the population rose rapidly after 1975. It passed the 1,500 mark in 1982 and currently has 2,700 inhabitants. The various phases of construction can be seen in the architecture of the areas passed through. From 1960 onwards, many housing estates with detached houses with large gardens grew up on this side of the railway. Urban renewal continues today on the outskirts of the town with a variety of individual houses on smaller plots, and private and collective social housing for single-parent families and individuals.

Urban development usually gives rise to clean travel, using more and more green spaces and nature. Here, a stabilized path runs along Pont er Ber stream which rises in this area and joins the river Scave, one of the main tributaries of the river Scorff. Majestic birch trees with pearly white bark grow alongside willows, a reminder of the wetland which with the Pont er Ber, plays a fundamental role in the water cycle. The wetland acts like a sponge, storing rainwater in winter. It limits flooding and returns the water to the river 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.  

Passing along the raised railway tracks and using the stone structure to cross it, it is easy to see how much this infrastructure has divided the rural territory of Gestel in two. On this side, the open landscape, with its meadows where cows graze and vast cultivated plots, offers a panoramic view of the countryside. It is a sign of farming and how it grew over the second half of the 20th century. While the patchwork of fields and hedges is still visible, smaller plots once surrounded with wooded embankments planted with apple trees, have been merged into larger fields, and the embankments flattened to make way for large farm machinery. Agriculture is no longer the primary activity in Gestel, which mainly has secondary and service jobs, although a third of the territory remains listed as Useful Agricultural Surface. The town is committed to limiting future urban growth, to preserving land and farm buildings, to encouraging diversified agricultural activities, farm sales, tourism, etc.

Sometimes using older elements such as a semi-circular door, houses are characterized by uniform, symmetrical bays. Houses, many of which had two rooms, separated living from working. Cellars, pantries, cribs and stables were built sometimes adjoining the house, sometimes in the basement or away from it. The presence of a well with lintel and pedestals from 1848, is a reminder of how this device grew in Breton courtyards in the 19th century, bringing water that formerly had to be fetched from a source. Moustoir, as the etymology of this name indicates, mouster in old Breton, derives from the Latin word for monastery. A monastic establishment probably existed here at the time of the great clearings, undoubtedly modest as indicated by the ic in Moustoiric, meaning small in Breton. Legend has it that the monks cultivated their land with the help of deer teams, which would explain the meaning of the name of Gestel “house of deer”.

While enjoying the view over the surrounding countryside, you can hardly ignore the presence of the water tower supplying Gestel and Quéven. With its high position, and the water stored in the tank at the highest part of this structure, the water flows naturally down to the houses. This ingenious technique has been used here for about sixty years, although we rarely think of this when we open the tap.  The town of Lorient, growing rapidly since its birth in the 17th century, began to take water from the Scorff at Keréven in Pont-Scorff and to transport it to the Petit Paradis reservoirs around 1911. However, it was not until 1957 that the communes of Cléguer, Gestel, Guidel, Pont-Scorff and Quéven came together to create a water syndicate. Important works, kilometres of buried pipes were necessary to convey the raw water from the Scorff from the pumping station at Kereven to the water treatment plant of Leslé in Pont-Scorff, then to water towers like this one and, finally, into the houses. The last hamlets did not receive water until the late 1960s. Opening a tap is a simple gesture, but it has revolutionized our lives, put an end to the chore of fetching water from the well and the fountain, and brought drinking water to everyone. Let's preserve and not waste this precious resource.

Welcome to the Domaine du Lain, seat of an old lordship whose history and heritage you will discover along the way. Consisting of 24 hectares, it is now managed sustainably by Lorient Agglomeration and hosts many events. Do not miss to visit the basins on your right. In the second half of the 19th century, the emergence of springs in this area was a pretext to create a set of masonry ponds, with a utilitarian function. The land was excavated and surrounded with low walls. Using channels, the fountains feed various ponds: two rectangular ones used for laundry and a third larger one, possibly to replace the old fish pool.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

The green corridor of Gestel has been developed by the town to create a pedestrian link between the town and the gardens at the Domaine du Lain. As part of the Grenelle de l'Environnement project, it contributes to preserving wetland biodiversity. The site is accessible to people with reduced mobility and is family-friendly. Its educational vocation can be seen in the explanatory panels about the insects in the Lain. There is also a sensory trail created for children from 4 to 12 years old to awaken their five senses. The association Gestel Nature was involved in the green corridor project. It continues to educate the inhabitants about good practices in its collective gardens with colourful installations, and during events such as the Fête de Nature which has taken place in spring at the Domaine du Lain since 2008.

Heading up the rue de Quéven, on the right you can see a washhouse fed by a spring now hidden in a covered semi-circular structure. Once used as a watering place for the inhabitants, this fountain, forming a stream that joins the Lain, was probably extended by a washhouse at the end of the 19th century or at the beginning of the 20th century, a favourable time for these constructions, partly financed by the State in order to develop hygiene. Consisting of two basins, a small one for rinsing and a larger one for washing, this structure of cement and stone, has undergone several transformations. In 2020, the site was refurbished with shale paving and landscaping. Higher up, you can see several two-story houses, built in front of the old station between the last quarter of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. These houses are of the ternary style, i.e. formed of three bays, and have the same characteristics: symmetrical rectangular bays in segmental arch ordered with a door and two windows on the ground floor, three windows on the first floor. Two of these buildings have six bays and several doors, one of which is a carriage door. These were old hostels built to accommodate travellers, recalling the impact of the arrival of the railway on the town. New visitors also led to the opening of many inns and a post office at the corner of the streets of Kergornet and Moustoiric. This is when Théophile Viollet du Breuil, inspector of the Ponts et Chaussées, in charge of the railway line, bought the Château du Lain in 1871.

The church of Notre-Dame des Fleurs was built in 1959 reusing the columns from the choir and aisles, the base of the choir and the sacristies of a building destroyed during the war in 1944. The latter was built in 1896 on the site of a Latin cross church from the third quarter of the 17th century which included a porch on the south side and an ossuary for human bones. We do not know its former name, but we do know that in 1773, the new master of Lain, Julien-Louis Monistrol, had his private chapel blessed. The enclosure from this period remains, formerly around the cemetery, the monumental sculpted cross with Christ dating 1660 and some ruins, around the building and in the presbytery garden: tombstones and fragments of columns. Inside the church, you can also see a 17th-century Holy Family. This carved representation of Joseph, Mary and Jesus, from a long-gone altarpiece, is quite rare in Brittany. Also not very common, this 17th-century nursing Virgin called N.D. de Kergornet, coming from the chapel of the same name, very famous for its pardon when nursing mothers would come on 1st May to pray to her for Good Milk. With the railway, this pilgrimage, as well as the one to Notre-Dame des Fleurs, was very popular. The moment of the arrival of a train has been immortalized on a 20th-century postcard: a crowd of pilgrims disembarks from the carriages to join the festivities. Adjacent to the church, the presbytery of the ternary type, was built in 1828, as carved on the lintel over the main door. An inscription on the outbuilding used as a woodshed and built at right angles to the north reads “LA MAISON ND DES FLEURS FAIT PAR P. REMONT”. This priest's house replaces an older building, listed on the 1818 land registry with an oven on the western gable. It was extended by one bay in 1892.