La Guerche (I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. The church, of which portions belong to the 13th and 14th cents., contains some old stained glass. At 2 kilometres to the S. is the Church of Rannée, in part Romanesque.
Guichen (I.V.) chl. arr. Redon. Old chateaux at Gaylieu and Gressillonnoye.
Hédé (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. Ruins of the castle on a rock. The church is Romanesque. S. Gaudran, good glass of the 17th cent. in the church, and two silver reliquaries of the 12th cent.
Hennebont (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. Prettily situated on the river Blavet. The town is divided into the Ville Clos within its ancient walls and the new town. A bridge connects them. The old town was fortified by Duke Jean I. (1237-86). It played a signal part in the War of Succession. Jean de Montfort had secured the place. At the end of May 1342, Charles of Blois laid siege to it. Within was the Countess Jeanne, who held out with determination, set fire to the camp of the enemy, and leaving the town unperceived threw herself into Auray, where she gathered reinforcements which she introduced into Hennebont without the feeble Charles being aware what she was about. At last provisions failed, and the magistrates insisted on capitulation. The countess entreated for a couple of days' delay, and at the last moment saw gleaming in the west on the sea the sails of an English fleet sent to her relief. Charles hastily retreated, but again a few months later laid siege to the place. He was, however, again repulsed. The parish church (N.D. de Paradis) on the further side of the river. It is the principal monument in Hennebont, and was erected in 1514-24, and is consequently flamboyant before it sank in debasement. The W. front is light and graceful and has a porch and a tower flanked by a couple of turrets tied to it by galleries sustained on flying buttresses. The spire rises to 150 feet. The choir ends in an apse lighted by two stages of windows. A procession takes place on the last Sunday in Sept. in commemoration of the cessation of an epidemic in 1699. The chapel of S. Antoine is partly Romanesque.
Kervignac. A fine dolmen near the road from Hennebont to Landévant. On the south, near Kermadio, is another. A third, small, near Lopriac. This is one of the most ancient parishes in the diocese of Vannes. It is mentioned as early as the 6th cent. At this time a cloud of locusts came down on the country, and the Count Weroch, fearing famine, sought Gunthiern, a refugee king of Gwent, who had settled at Quimperlé and was in great repute for his austerities. Gunthiern gave water he had blessed to the envoys of Weroch, and this drove the locusts away. In return for this favour, Weroch granted to Gunthiern the plou of Vineac. The Chapel of N.D. de la Clarté is of the 15th cent. That of S. Laurent contains some remains of the screen. A Holy Well of S. Gildas is still in request in the hamlet of Kanden.
* HUELGOAT (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. A picturesquely situated townlet at the extremity of a lake that discharges amongst masses of granite down a ravine. The ruinous condition of the granite is not due to earthquake or to glacial action as supposed by some, but to its composition. It contains a large amount of soluble silicate of potass. This disappears under the action of the rain and the granite crumbles away. Huelgoat is four miles from the nearest railway station. The road is through the valley of the Argent, between pine-clad hills. The granite here encounters the schist. The church is a mean renaissance structure, but the Chapel of N.D. des Cieux is more interesting. It is of the 16th cent. and contains some old glass of the period. A camp on a height above the town is attributed to King Arthur.
S. Herbot. A chapel in the parish of Loqeffret is a picturesque structure at the roots of the Monts d'Arrée. A stream here falls in a pretty cascade 400 feet over rocks, and at no great distance from the chapel are the inconsiderable remains of the renaissance Château de Rusquec. The Chapel of S. Herbot is actually a large church and merits attentive study. It possesses a fine square tower without spire or pinnacles. The date is 1516. The W. front is fine. Throughout, the carving of the granite is admirable, the foliage is treated with great boldness. The tower of S. Herbot seems to have served as a model for that of Carhaix, which is a few years later. On the south is a deep porch also well sculptured, with the apostles within, and 24 little statues in the arcade of the entrance. The date of the porch is 1498. The apse is flamboyant like the rest of the church, but the buttresses are later additions in 1618 and 1619. The interior is adorned with a beautiful renaissance screen and returned stalls, but no roodloft. On the W. face the twelve apostles, on that inside the minor prophets and the sibyls. In the chancel is the tomb of the Saint, a hermit of whom nothing authentic is known. It is a work of the 15th cent. There are some old stained glass windows. That on the S. at the E. end represents S. Yves between a rich man and a poor suitor. The date is 1556. The central window contains the story of the Passion, that on the N., S. Laurence on the gridiron. The date 1556, which is also probably that of the central window. Outside the screen are two altars piled up with cows' tails. These are offered to the Saint. Formerly they were hung about the sanctuary. There is a little ossuary on the W. side of the porch. The E. window is of earlier character than the rest in the church, and is of the same character as that of Pont l'Abbé with a transom supporting a rose. Most of the windows testify to the decline of flamboyant, when the flames assume a tadpole form and the lights are uncusped. In the churchyard is a Calvary.
Brennilis has a church with tower and W. façade of 1485. There are two windows of good old glass representing the Conception, S. Christopher, and a monk. Also the life of the Virgin. The church possesses a processional cross of 1650.
Janzé (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. The church is partly Romanesque. In the suburbs a menhir with a hole cut in the face to receive an image of the B.V.M.
Essé. Here is one of the finest covered avenues in Brittany. It consists of a main structure with an ante-chamber, and is divided within into compartments. The total length is 43 feet.