Site: Plouagat-Châtelaudren

Name:Plouagat-Châtelaudren (Plagad) CISP No:PLAGT
Place:Plouagat-Châtelaudren (Plagad) Grid Ref:206.1 2406.4 (FR)   Map
Parish:Plouagat-Châtelaudren (Plagad) Stones:1
County:Côtes-d'Armor (Aodoù-an-Arvor) , France Saint(s):Agat
Site Type:ecclesiastical

Site Notes

Davies et al/2000, 152--153, `The bourg of Plouagat (commonly known as Plouagat-Châtelaudren to distinguish it from Plouégat-Guerrand and Plouégat-Moysan) lies inland in north central Brittany, 20km west of Saint-Brieuc and the large bay which bears the latter name. The centre of the bourg is elevated in relation to the surrounding landscape, at 145m above sea level. The underlying bedrock is metamorphic, within 1km of the main granite intrusions. The settlement is surrounded by good quality mixed farm land.

When the first surviving cadastral map was drawn in 1828 the settlement was nucleated but small, with very little building to the east of the church (ancien cadastre, Mairie de Plouagat). The church and churchyard occupy the highest point and are focal to the road system now, as they were in 1828, standing beside the old Saint-Brieuc to Guingamp road. Given the plou name of the parish, there must be a strong probability that the church and its surround occupy a site that has been of religious use since the early middle ages. The name is attested as Ploagac in 1148 with variants thereafter and the parish is evidenced from 1232. Vallerie has argued that it was the centre of a primitive parish, at 102km² one of largest in the diocese of Tréguier, including Lanrodec, Saint-Jean-Kerdaniel, Boquo and Châtelaudren (west of the River Leff)...Given the likely early medieval origin of the site, it is possible that the stone was sited in the vicinity of the church in the early middle ages, although it clearly now occupies a secondary location, having been moved in recent times. We do not know if it marked a burial or proclaimed some other kind of commemoration. However, the inscription was evidently intended to be seen and its arrangement is central to the re-use of the stone'.

References

Stones