The Mâchefer mine

Place names can often tell us about the history of a place. Here at Mâchefer, stop below the track to see an old mine. Although the rock is ferrous here, as the name suggests, it is pyrite that was sought during the Bronze Age and even more so in Roman times. Upstream of the track, a red slab is carved with large circles, solar rings, and Celtic crosses, recognisable by their four equal arms. These engravings made between 500 BC and the Gallo-Roman period are perhaps linked to mining, where the divine bolts of lightning happily came to cross swords...