La Roche-Derrien (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc, is prettily situated on the Jaudy, at the highest point to which the tide reaches. Of the castle hardly anything remains. The church has a spire of late 13th cent. The S. porch, formerly adorned with statues, is bold. The church has vast double transepts of 1435, and flamboyant windows and extraordinary gargoyles. Inside is a barbarous elaborately carved oak altarpiece of late renaissance and of no merit. La Roche was the scene of the battle fought in 1347, when Charles de Blois was taken prisoner by the English.
Near La Roche is Langoat, the church like a converted railway station, but it contains the tomb of Alma Pompeia, the mother of S. Tugdual, who died in the 6th cent., but the tomb was erected in 1470. She is represented on it recumbent; and at the sides are subjects in bas-relief relative to her story. These have been reproduced in bad modern glass in the E. window. In the church may be seen a statue of S. Tugdual habited as a pope. This is due to a curious blunder. His monks were wont to call him Pabu, or father. A late writer of his legend supposed that this meant that he was papa—the pope, and so fabricated a story to explain it, how that Tugdual went to Rome and arrived when the see was vacant, and was elected pope; how that after a very few years he wearied of the burden, and a flying horse was sent from heaven which conveyed him through the air back to Brittany.
Prat. The Château of Coatelan is a rectangular building of the beginning of the 16th cent., and is an interesting, well-preserved example of a maison forte of the period. Within are some good chimney-pieces. At the top of one of the turrets is an oven for baking bread.
Pommerit Jaudy. On the Coat-nevez, a conical hill, is a camp, probably of the Northmen invaders. The château is mainly of the 16th cent, and has granite chimney-pieces.
Cavan. The church (S. Cheron) is of the 15th cent, and has a spire flanked by two stair-turrets surmounted by domes. This is of 1684.
Berhet. The church (S. Bridget) is modern. The Chapel of N.D. de Confort has flamboyant windows, the tracery in those at the side forms hearts. Within is a carved oak retable representing the Passion, Resurrection and Assumption. In the chapel is a Sant-e-roa, or Holy Wheel, hung with bells, and this is rung during mass, and by pilgrims desirous of calling the B.V. Mary's attention to their petitions. Similar wheels are at Quemperven, Locarn, Laniscat in the Côtes-du-Nord, at S. Nicolas de Prissiac in Morbihan, and at N.D. de Confort, near Pontcroix in Morbihan. P. last Sunday in September.
* ROCHEFORT EN TERRE (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. A picturesquely situated little town on schist rocks above the Arz. The scenery of the valley is pleasing and it has become, like Pont-aven, headquarters of artists. Considerable ruins of the castle exist, and there are several old houses in the town. Rochefort was never walled in. Nevertheless it was furnished with gates in the 18th cent. The Church of N.D. de la Tronchaye having been erected on a slope to the south causes the N. side to appear buried. This side was altered in 1533. In the choir are oak stalls of 1590 and 1592. S. Roque, on a height near the town, was erected in 1527 in consequence of a vow made by the people who were decimated by a plague. It was ruined at the Revolution, but has been rebuilt, 1854. A fair is held at Rochefort on the 2nd Tuesday in every month. Rochefort affords good quarters whence excursions may be made to visit the prehistoric monuments scattered over the Lande de Lanvaux and Haut Branbien. The menhirs are for the most part higher than those of Carnac, but unhappily a great many of them are fallen. These collections of megalithic remains have never been properly investigated and planned, and have not been visited like those of Carnac and Locmariaquer and Erdeven.
Pluherlin on the Lande de Haut Branbien, N. of Rochefort, has many of these strewn over the commune. A menhir 15 feet high is in the Lande de Lanvaux beside the road to Pleucadeuc. Great havoc has been wrought throughout this neighbourhood among the churches; the interesting old structures have been wantonly torn down to make place for the exhibition of the incompetence of Vannes architects.
Rosporden (F.) chl. arr. Quimper. In a pretty situation by a lake that is, however, traversed by the line from Quimper to Vannes, and that from Rosporden to Carhaix. The church has a fine tower and well-proportioned spire of the 13th cent. On the S. side is a porch, one of the oldest in Finistère. The church contains a rude statue of Our Lady, much venerated. It was turned out of the church into the graveyard in 1870, to make way for one more artistic; but the parishioners rose in indignation and forced the curé to replace it. A statue of S. Barbara is erected on a fragment of the ancient Calvary that has been destroyed. P. of S. Eloi, 2nd Sunday in July. Patronal Feast, Aug. 15.
Rostrenen (C.N.) chl. arr. Guingamp, on the slope of a hill, with a great square in the midst, about which are old houses of the 16th and 17th cents. The parish church is modern, but retains a transept of the 14th cent. and a choir and tower of the 18th. The S. porch has in it statues of the apostles.