Route des lavoirs de Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc

(Start/Finish) As you leave the car park, note the Hosannière cross. Head towards Rue de la Croix and turn right onto Chemin de la Gelousière. At the Y-junction, follow Chemin de la Gelousière to the right. After the farmhouse on the left-hand side, there is a spring on that same side, near an old farm shed.

Follow the Chemin de la Genousière, uphill and then along flat ground on the plateau, until you reach the junction with Rue du Plan d’Eau (the D122). There is a wayside cross on the left-hand side, just beyond the junction. Cross the junction carefully and head straight on until you reach the next road nearby.

(1) Turn left and carefully follow the road heading west until you reach a Fork in the road. Turn left onto the road leading to the hamlet of La Genête. The road, running along the edge of the plateau, overlooks the hamlet of Boisne further to the west, on the other side of a small valley through which flows an intermittent stream, the Musson, which feeds the Cherveux–Saint-Christophe lake. Just as the road takes a sharp left-hand bend near the hamlet, continue straight ahead onto a path heading south which, further on, descends from the plateau to the bottom of the valley.

(2) Cross the Musson via a footbridge and begin climbing up the western slope of the valley. Soon, take a path on the right that runs along the slope: the Chemin du Musson. You’ll see the Boisne washhouse. Pass through a small dip in the terrain and follow the path climbing the western slope of the main valley to reach Boisne on the plateau.

Cross the hamlet by heading straight on along the edge of the plateau via the Route de la Carte, then the Route du Patrouillet. Towards the end of the hamlet, the road turns sharply left.

(3) Immediately after the bend, take the road on the right, known as the Chemin du Paradis, which continues northwards. Carry on to a T-junction.

Turn onto the left-hand path, which climbs uphill and shortly afterwards joins a road known as the Rue du Puits au Breuil. Turn right onto it and follow it through the hamlet to the T-junction with the Rue du Breuil.
Be careful to keep the Impasse de la Burgalière on your right as you enter the village. Turn left onto Rue du Breuil and continue to the nearby junction with the road known as Chemin du Taulis.

(4) Turn right onto Chemin du Taulis and, at the next junction, take the left-hand track towards the locality known as La Bâtonnière. Walk along the left-hand side of the hamlet and, a little further on, turn left onto a track and then immediately right onto another track heading north.

At the junction with Chemin du Frêne, continue straight ahead along the track, which is circular and heads towards the hamlet known as La Péchellerie, where it joins a small road. Take this road carefully to the right. At the T-junction, take the road on the right for a few metres until you find, on the left, the track leading to the Lavoir de la Perdillière on the banks of the Musson.

(5) Return to the nearby crossroads and continue straight ahead towards the hamlet of La Quairie. Just before you reach it, as the road bends to the right, take the path opposite which heads south-east and leads straight to the hamlet of Le Plantis. You’ll come out onto the road serving this hamlet; follow it to the right for about forty metres.

(6) Turn left downhill towards a small valley, then climb up and pass close to the hamlet known as La Bernière on your right before reaching the D122 road at Chazais. Turn left and follow the road for about thirty metres before taking the Chemin du Lavoir on the right. Continue straight on to the covered washhouse at Chazais, following the path that continues from the road.

(7) Head back towards Chazais and turn left onto Chemin de la Selle. Before reaching the road known as Chemin de la Galinière, take the farm track on the left which heads south-east, flanked by two low stone walls at the start. The track descends into a valley before climbing partly up the other side of the valley

(8) Just before reaching the road leading to the hamlet of La Selle to the east and the hamlet of Le Peu to the south. Look out for the fortified farm of Maillé in the distance on the plain. Take the path on the right, which descends and joins the Route de la Grue. When you reach the road, follow it carefully to the left as it climbs up the side of the valley. Further on, the road takes a right-angle bend to the left and heads towards the hamlet of Le Peu. At this point, continue straight on along a path that curves gently to form a semicircle to the right.

After this wide circular route to the right, the path descends towards the valley to the east of Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc, where the Ruisseau de la Roche flows. There are lovely views of the village and the church. After passing through the bottom of the valley, the path joins the road known as the Chemin de la Roche. Follow it, turning to the right. The road climbs. At the bottom of a steep slope, take the path on the left which leads, after a few dozen metres, to the source of the Ruisseau de la Roche and its underground river (see the ‘During the walk’ section).

Return to the road and take the steep slope on the left, then turn left again and take the Chemin de la Fontaine on the left, which seems to pass through the storage area of a metalworks factory. Continue to the end of the path to see the covered wash house and the source of the Ruisseau de la Roche.

(9) Head back up towards the village. At the top of the Chemin de la Fontaine, you’ll find the car park on your left (S/E).

The car park is located opposite the church on Rue de la Croix, near the Hosanna Cross. Alternatively, you can park at Place de l’Église.

This hike across varied terrain requires sturdy footwear.

This route is signposted as it follows the “Le circuit des Lavoirs” route published by the Deux-Sèvres Departmental Hiking Committee. It is marked in yellow. Nevertheless, it is advisable to follow the directions in this description and on the map, whilst also paying attention to the surrounding landscape. Distance markers from the starting point, and even the GPS coordinates of waypoints (including the start), can also help hikers find their way.

Hike completed by the author on 21/08/2020

Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc
Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc is situated 17 km north of the town of Niort and 23 km south-west of Parthenay. The village is set within a distinctive landscape known as the Gâtine (a region of ‘spoilt’ or poor soil), which is also found in other regions (notably Touraine). The impermeable soil favours the presence of numerous springs, ponds and rivers, which irrigate a landscape of green, rolling hedgerows. The village is centred on a market town surrounded by around ten hamlets which, in 1376, fell under the jurisdiction of the seigneury of La Faye. It was formerly a priory-parish which held feudal rights, including the right to elect the archpriest of Saint-Maixent. The vast majority of the inhabitants converted to Protestantism, and a church was built in the 16th century.

Places and monuments
The Hosanna Cross
The Hosanna Cross, dating from the 12th century, features a 9-metre-high cylindrical shaft decorated with a circle of diamond-shaped points. It stands on a cubic pedestal approximately 2 metres high. In the 17th century, the lower part of the cross was fitted with a corbel and a niche, which has long been empty of its statue. Listed as a Historic Monument on 22 March 1889.

The Church of Saint Christopher
The church, of Romanesque origin and renovated in the 17th century, has a semicircular apse and a fragment of a carved funerary plaque, probably dating from the 13th century.
The church of Saint-Christophe-sur-Roc overlooks a small valley and is built into the hillside. A Hosanna cross stands nearby. Immediately after passing through the door, one must descend eleven steps. In this way, the faithful are invited to leave behind the concerns of daily life and seek spiritual reflection in the presence of the Lord. Due to the slope, there are a further three steps before reaching the straight chancel.
The parish is first mentioned in records in the 13th century. The village has been known as ‘sur-Roc’ since the 17th century. The church has always been under the direct authority of the Bishop of Poitiers.
The church suffered greatly during the Wars of Religion. The parish converted en masse to Protestantism.
Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and out of fear of the ‘dragonnades’ (the forced accommodation of dragoons imposed on Protestants), the parish priest received the abjuration of 999 Protestants from his parish in 1686. In a sorry state, the church was restored in the 17th century.
After the Revolution, the nave’s vault had to be rebuilt. In 1846, Abbé Vallon had a brick vault constructed, which collapsed in the 1870s, necessitating further restoration in the Roman-Byzantine style (domed vaults) for the three bays of the nave, which in turn required the side walls to be raised. The original right-hand bay of the chancel, with its broken barrel vault, remains.
The massive rectangular porch, which serves as the entrance and features a low-rise storey housing the bell from 1851–1852 (cast by Gallois of Paris), is striking for its very low-pitched roof.
The creation of two chapels within the side walls of the nave – no doubt during the 19th-century restoration – could not be achieved solely within the thickness of the wall and resulted in an extension of the wall.
To find out more:

The washhouse, built below an old industrial dairy (dating from 1894 and listed as a heritage site since 2002), provides access to the underground river.
The Priest’s Fountain: opposite the former dairy stands the stone dome of a fountain said to have been built in the Middle Ages by monks.

The underground river
The Roche stream rises from an underground river, of which approximately
4,300 metres of tunnels have been explored by cavers. It is the longest underground network discovered to date in the Deux-Sèvres department. This river, situated within the triangle formed by Saint-Christophe, La Chapelle-Bâton, Saint Projet, is fed partly by rainwater seeping into the limestone layers and partly by surface runoff flowing into the sinkholes. In summer, most of these sinkholes resemble dry dolines. In winter, however, significant silting-up often transforms them into pools or bodies of water.

The Tree of Liberty
Situated near the old post office, this lime tree was named the ‘Tree of Liberty’ by those who planted it on 5 May 1889 to mark the centenary of the opening of the Estates-General, which heralded the French Revolution. To mark the bicentenary of the Revolution, another lime tree was planted on 14 July 1989 in the presence of the local community.
Sources: Wikipedia (excerpts), the “Circuit des lavoirs” walking route guide produced by the Deux-Sèvres Departmental Committee for Hiking, and the information sheet on the forecourt of the Poitiers Theological Centre for the church (excerpts)