The Chails and Fountains Circular Loop in Souvigné

(S/E) Leave the stadium car park, passing by the village hall and joining the D10 road heading towards Saint-Maixent (the stadium is on your right). Turn immediately right onto a farm track that runs flat towards the north-east before beginning to descend slightly. There is a very beautiful and sweeping view over the Sèvre Niortaise plain.

Further on, the track crosses two other tracks, first to the left then to the right, in a sort of elongated ‘S’ shape: keep going straight on along the track that descends the most; the other two are level, at least initially. A little further on, carry straight on, pass under the high-voltage power line and reach almost the bottom of the valley where an intermittent stream flows from a pool fed by the Font Chérisse spring. You’ll come to a T-junction.

(1) Turn right, then 200 metres further on, turn left onto the next path (before passing under the high-voltage power line again). Cross the bottom of the valley at the pond on your right and continue for a few dozen metres until you see the Font Chérisse spring on your right.

(2) Return to the junction with the previous path, turn left, and pass under the high-voltage power line. Shortly afterwards, the path enters the Bois de la Cerisaie. You will see the chails there. At the junction of paths that comes up immediately, continue along the one on the left until you reach a small road.

(3) Cross the road carefully and take the path almost directly opposite, slightly lower down and on level ground, which runs alongside the Bois du Dac, which lines the side of the valley at this point. Carry on to a Y-junction. Turn left onto a path which, after about fifty metres, leads to the Fontaine de Glandune on your right. The name comes from ‘glandunus’, the Latin word for ‘acorns’.

(4) Return to the Y-junction and turn left. The path then climbs and joins a small road.

(5) Cross the road carefully and continue along the steeply ascending path which branches off opposite, slightly to the left. The path runs along the edge of the Bois du Couvent on your right. The path reaches a junction of five paths. Carry on straight ahead along the second path on the right, which climbs directly towards the plateau above the Bois du Couvent (the two paths furthest to the left lead to the hamlets of La Pierrière and Le Bois Bourdet). Continue climbing until you reach a small road. Turn right and follow the road with care. Pass a junction whilst continuing north-west.

(6) Shortly afterwards, turn left onto a track that leads straight towards the D10 road, which it joins to the north of the hamlet of La Garenne. Just before the road, you will see a family cemetery on your left. Turn left and follow the D10 road very carefully for about fifty metres. At La Garenne, cross the D10 road with care (it is a very busy road with poor visibility) and follow the road for about twenty metres to the left.

(7) Take the path that branches off to the right, running diagonally between open fields towards Souvigné. This is the path known as the ‘Chemin de la Cannetière’, offering a lovely view of Souvigné church.

(8) Further on, just before reaching a road running alongside Souvigné, turn left onto a path leading towards the village cemetery. The path soon joins the small road. Cross carefully and take the road opposite that runs alongside the cemetery. Continue straight on until the next junction. Turn right and follow the D103 for about thirty metres.

(9) Turn right onto a path leading towards the village. As you approach the houses, at a crossroads, carry on straight ahead along the path on the right for less than fifty metres to reach the Fontaine de Pissot and its washhouse on your right. You will see a Protestant cemetery on the left, near the crossroads.

Return to the T-junction and turn right. Shortly afterwards, the path becomes Rue du Prieuré and passes close to a spring on your left. Continue to Rue du Temple, passing the Musée de la Ruralité et de la Coiffe. Turn right and then right again after twenty metres to take a footpath leading to the Temple de Souvigné, in front of which stands a magnificent umbrella pine (see the ‘During the walk’ section). Pass to the right of the Temple via a narrow passage to emerge into an open space and reach Souvigné Town Hall.

Turn left to walk past the town hall, then right into Rue de la Chapelle and, at the next junction, take the path between Rue de la Chapelle and Rue du Rompis. Follow it to the D10 road. Cross the busy D10 road with care (at the pedestrian crossing). Return to the car park opposite (S/E).

The car park is located at the Salle des Fêtes, next to the stadium (coming from Beaussais on the right-hand side of the D10 road).

This walk across varied terrain requires suitable footwear.

This route is only partially signposted in yellow for approximately 7.5 km, but it is not difficult to find your way. In addition, it is advisable to follow the directions in this description and the map provided by Visorando, whilst also paying attention to the surrounding landscape. Distance markers from the starting point, or even the GPS coordinates of waypoints (including the start), can also help hikers find their way.
This walk is featured by the municipality of Souvigné on its official website.

Hike completed by the author on 26 April 2022. A route with very few visitors.

Souvigné
A municipality with a population of 927 as at 1 January 2017. Area: 26.41 km².
It belongs to the District of Niort and the canton of Saint-Maixent-l’École 2. It is also part of the Haut Val de Sèvre Community of Communes.

The commune of Souvigné is characterised by:

• A plateau flanked by two valleys, resulting in a relatively flat landscape both on the plateau and at the bottom of the Sèvre Niortaise valley. The rest of the commune’s territory is fairly undulating. The terrain is more rugged in the small, steep-sided valleys.
• A well-developed river system, consisting mainly of the Sèvre Niortaise and its tributaries. These are fed by numerous identified springs.
• An area criss-crossed by a ‘green corridor’ (the Hermitain Forest) and a ‘blue corridor’ (the Sèvre Niortaise valley). There are also wooded hillsides.
• A listed site: La Pierre au Diable.
• A diverse, flat, cultivated landscape that is largely open in the centre. A more pronounced relief to the west and east of the plateau marks the upper reaches of the valleys, which are characterised by a bocage landscape where water and trees (particularly chestnut trees) are the defining features.
• A few notable built features (the Temple and the Château de Reigné), as well as elements of the local heritage that contribute to the quality of the landscape (churches, fountains, wash houses, low stone walls, crosses, Protestant cemeteries, etc.)

Régné Castle
Régné Castle has belonged to the Vasselot de Régné family since 1403.
The Vasselots originated in Poitou. Their fiefdoms were mainly concentrated around Saint-Maixent-l’Ecole and Niort, in a territory corresponding more or less to the present-day department of Deux-Sèvres, where the family was firmly established.
The proven lineage of this noble family of ancient descent dates back to before 1340.
Motto: ‘In hoc signo vinces’, taken from Constantine’s motto, which translates as ‘By this sign, you shall conquer’.
Surname and title
The surname ‘Vasselot’ is probably derived from the term ‘vassal’, either in its feudal sense of ‘vassal (feudal subject) of a suzerain’ or in its sense of ‘valiant’. Another etymological hypothesis suggests that ‘Vasselot’ is derived from ‘vexillarius’ (standard-bearer).
The head of the family usually bears the title of marquis. On 14 January 1786, Jacques Marie Alexis Vasselot (1758–1828) proved his nobility before Chérin, and was admitted to the Court’s honours on 27 March 1789. He was presented to the king under the name and title of ‘Count of Vasselot d’Annemarie’. Having no male heirs, Jacques and subsequently his brother Marin (1760–1836) bequeathed to their cousin Gabriel Vasselot de Régné (1782–1842) a number of titles, including that of Marquis of Saint-Mesmin. It therefore appears that the practice of using the courtesy title ‘Marquis de Vasselot’ dates from this period, formed by combining the surname (Vasselot) and the title (Marquis de Saint-Mesmin) to distinguish him from other members of the family.
The use of the particle ‘de’ before the surname ‘Vasselot’ became widespread in the 19th century.
Since 1882, the only surname still in use has been “de Vasselot de Régné”, to the exclusion of all others.
Since the marriage of Sélima Vasselot de La Chesnaye (1807–1879) and Marin de Vasselot d’Annemarie (1760–1836) in 1828, the owner of La Guillotière has borne the courtesy title of “Vicomte de La Guillotière” in memory of Marin de Vasselot d’Annemarie, who bequeathed this estate to them.
NotableFigures
Regnault Vasselot, commander of the castle and town of Saint-Maixent between 1322 and 1324
Yvon Vasselot, a knight in Rennes before 1340, after whom Rue Vasselot in Rennes is named
Joseph Amand Vasselot d’Annemarie (1762–1796), a naval officer during the American War of Independence and a Vendée general during the War in the Vendée; one of the last Vendée leaders to be executed by the ‘Bleus’
Médéric de Vasselot de Régné (1837–1919), Inspector of Water and Forests, Superintendent of Forestry Services at the Cape of Good Hope
Odile de Vasselot de Régné (1922–), member of the Resistance, founder and headmistress of the Lycée Sainte-Marie in Abidjan
Source: Wikipedia (excerpts)

The umbrella pine and Protestantism
‘All religious gatherings were banned (worship services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, etc.) and yet were carried out clandestinely by local preachers or itinerant pastors, on whose heads a bounty had been placed. The umbrella pine is said to have served as a sign of recognition. Wherever there was an umbrella pine, the hunted preacher was sure to find a table and a bed , even at the risk of the host being sentenced to row on the king’s galleys …” Source: Paul Bouneau, “The Preachers’ Route. The Land of the Umbrella Pines”, in Protestants in Poitou-C (...)
The Poitou Saintonge Protestants Association employed Delphine Palluault from October 1998 to carry out a detailed inventory of umbrella pines in the south of the Deux-Sèvres department. Émile Touzeau played an active role in compiling the inventory and shared his extensive knowledge of the Moyen Poitou region with the researcher. Information sheets were produced; these provided details on the commune where each pine was located, its circumference, its approximate height, its position in relation to the surrounding terrain, and the stories associated with it. In total, Delphine Palluault compiled 46 documents: 18 pines are associated with a Protestant family cemetery, 24 are situated on plots of land known to be Protestant, and 2 are linked to place names (the ‘pin’ and the ‘pinier’); 12 trees are 150 years old or more.⁴⁶ The clues are thus piling up, filling a troubling gap in the archives: the Protestant landscape, hitherto silent, suddenly becomes talkative. The research formed the basis for an exhibition held from 21 June to 21 August 1999 at the Maison du Protestantisme Poitevin in Beaussais.
Source: An open-air museum? Anthropology of plant heritage ...