Between Saint-Maigrin and Trotte-Dorne

(S/E) Leave the car park next to the stadium, carefully taking the D152 road to the right towards Saint-Maigrin. At the bend immediately after this, cross the road and take the small road heading east. Continue to the second junction.

(1) Take the road on the right leading to the hamlet of Chez Coustant. The road immediately enters the woods and passes through them. As you approach Chez Coustant, take the path opposite heading south, leaving the hamlet on your left. Follow the path to the small road known as l’Ouche Mullon. Turn left onto this road and follow it to the junction with the Peubreau roads.
There, turn left to follow the Route de Louche, which descends slightly to pass the northern end of the pond east of Maine Roullet, before climbing straight up the hillside towards a wood.

(2) Just as the road takes a right-angled bend to the left, continue straight ahead along the path heading eastwards, which leads to a road in the Bois de la Tuilerie. Turn right carefully onto the road for about 150 metres, then take the path on the left into a large clearing just after a house. The path enters the woodland and heads north-east. At the next crossroads, turn left to reach a small road.

(3) Carefully follow the road to the right, heading north-east. Continue to the junction where three roads and a forest track meet in the second clearing.

(4) Continue by turning onto the farm track furthest to the left, which climbs northwards. At the T-junction a little further on, turn onto the farm track on the right^, which descends and joins a^PR®® a short distance further on^. The track eventually emerges from the woods and joins a north-south farm track.

(5) Head north by turning left onto the roughly level track which runs alongside a vineyard plot before entering the woodland. On emerging from the woods, the track passes through an area planted with trees (orchards) and reaches a road known as ‘Chez Fonteneau les Bois’. Follow it to the left for the length of a bend – about eighty metres – until you reach a farm track on the right, just before a small copse.

(6) Take the farm track on the right and immediately cross a stream before passing through vineyards and heading towards a woodland. Continue to a crossroads and turn right, heading north-east. Walk for about four to five hundred metres to the next crossroads at the edge of the woodland in the Champ Roussy area (by the orchard and before the vineyard). The route leaves the^PR®® path here^.

(7) Turn left and cross the Bois de Trotte-Dorne to reach the vineyards on the western side of the woodland. Continue to the T-junction, which you’ll reach just after crossing the vineyards. Take the farm track on the left and follow it uphill to a T-junction. Turn right onto the track, which quickly becomes a small road as you reach the hamlet of Chez Genty.

Here you’ll see the well, built into a small shell-shaped structure in the centre of the hamlet.
Continue down the road and, after about a hundred metres, visit the chapel on the edge of a cultivated field and a spring in a grassy patch on your right. Return to the road and follow it downhill to a crossroads.

(8) Turn right onto the road to reach the junction with the Route de Chez Colas immediately on the left. Turn onto the Route de Chez Colas and then immediately right onto the road leading to Chez Cardot. At the next junction, in the hamlet, carry on straight ahead along a farm track heading south-west. Carry on to the Route de Chez Marquet. Turn left and follow it carefully for just over a hundred metres until you reach a farm track on the right.

(9) Take the farm track on the right, which descends into a small valley. Cross a seasonal stream and climb up the other side of the valley. The track soon reaches the edge of a wood on the right-hand side. Continue to a road known as the ‘Route de Bourget’. Head carefully to the right for about 150 metres before taking the farm track on the left, which descends into a small valley before climbing again and entering a small wood, eventually reaching the road known as the ‘Route de Croix de Bert’. Continue by carefully following the road to the right. It descends and passes through the hamlet known as ‘Chez Francillon’. Carry on to the junction with a road on the left a little further on.

(10) Turn onto the road on the left and, just as it turns sharply right, continue straight ahead onto a forest track running along the hillside. At the junction of forest tracks further on, turn right to descend into a small valley. Cross an intermittent stream and you will immediately reach a road known as Chez les Bis. Just before the road, you will see a spring on your right.
Follow the road to the right towards Chez les Bis and carry on to the first farm track on the left, leaving the main part of the hamlet on your right.

(11) Turn left onto the track that climbs into the Bois de Chez les Bis towards the D152 road. When you reach it, cross the D152 road with care and continue straight ahead along the gently sloping track into the woods.

(12) At the next four-way junction, take the path on the left, which joins the D152 a little further on. Carefully follow the D152 to the right and head for the nearby car park (S/E).

The car park is situated next to the stadium, near the D152 road to the north of Saint Maigrin. There is a picnic area at this location.

This walk, which covers varied terrain, requires suitable footwear.

This walk is only partially signposted, from just before point (5) to point (7). The route follows a^PR®® on this section. Consequently, it is advisable to follow the directions in the description and on the map, whilst also paying close attention to the landscape. The waypoints (with their GPS coordinates and the distance from the starting point) serve as aids for walkers exploring the route for the first time.

Hike completed by the author on 23 November 2021

Saint-Maigrin
The Tâtre, a tributary of the Trèfle – itself a sub-tributary of the Charente via the Seugne – flows through the commune from east to west. Along its course, on the edge of the pine forest, lies the pond, on the banks of which stands the Château de Saint-Maigrin.

Religious heritage
Saint-Paul Parish Church
The former Protestant church

Civil heritage
Saint-Maigrin Castle
Source: Wikipedia (excerpts)

General overview of the commune of Saint-Maigrin, as described in the 1977 programme for fishing in the pond. (Source: Saint-Maigrin commune website)
Saint-Maigrin, a charming commune situated in the south-east of Charente-Maritime, belongs to the canton of Archiac. Located between Jonzac (Charente-Maritime) and Barbezieux (Charente), equidistant from both towns, it stretches harmoniously across its hillsides and through its valleys, covering an area of 2,149 hectares. On the edge of the road from Archiac to Montendre, the village of Saint-Maigrin, dominated by the spire of its church, sees its houses rise in tiers from the Tâtre valley to the top of the hillside that once bore the old feudal castle.

In 1977, Saint-Maigrin had a population of 555, the vast majority of whom made their living from farming land suitable for vineyards, cereal crops and livestock.

Our commune, which takes its name from Saint Maigrin – who was martyred and put to death in Noyon alongside Saints Valerian and Gordian – probably dates back to the Gallo-Roman era. Evidence of its undeniable prominence and strategic location is provided by the Roman road running through its lands from Saintes towards Guîtres, and by the construction in its centre of a fortified castle and a frontier post. In all likelihood, the origins of the seigneury of Saint-Maigrin date back to before 1060. Until 1396, the name Saint-Maigrin was associated with that of the illustrious seigneurial House of Archiac; subsequently, with the House of Pons from 1396 to 1416; then with the House of Stuer from 1416 to 1675; and finally with the House of Guelen from 1675 to 1837.
Until the end of the 19th century, part of our commune’s industrious population was engaged in milling and the trade in flour and walnut oil. All the mills established by the lord were powered by the small river Le Tâtre, which flowed from the pond. The water from the ponds, from which the milling industry derived great benefit, also enabled the leather and parchment industries to flourish. Furthermore, the oldest of our commune’s thriving industries was that of tiles, floor tiles and bricks. There were numerous tile kilns in the castellany and in the forest which utilised, as a key component, a greyish-yellowish marl—a mixture of limestone, quartz and oxidised iron—extracted from the hillsides of Passignac.
Furthermore, the hillsides of Passignac were, and still are today, an ideal location for vine cultivation. The reputation of the Saint-Maigrin vineyard rests on the nature and richness of its Maastrichtian soil. This means that the farmers of Saint-Maigrin are, first and foremost, winegrowers who have been working for centuries to ensure the production, quality and reputation of Cognac.
Furthermore, Saint-Maigrin is of undeniable geological and archaeological interest. The Passignac tuff, formed during the Tertiary period, currently crowns a Maastrichtian dome rising to an altitude of 94 metres. This plant-rich tuff is concreted, traversed by numerous tubular channels and contains a significant proportion of quartz-rich sand, mica flakes and brown and reddish clay. It features numerous plant impressions, particularly of ferns, which have been studied by the geologists Leiller and Langeron.
Furthermore, fragments of Gallo-Roman pottery made of compartmentalised terracotta – some plain, others decorated with fern leaves – and a Corinthian capital were discovered at a place known as ‘Piedpibot’. The discovery of three statuettes depicting Latona and three basins made of crushed brick, between ‘Gadebor’ in Sainte-Radegonde and ‘Piedpibot’ in Saint-Maigrin, would seem to indicate the presence of a vast Roman villa.
Recently, several sarcophagi were excavated at the site of the former fortified castle that once stood in the centre of the town. Some underground passages, partly filled with stones and earth, are still visible at this location.

History of the Saint-Maigrin area (17), its castle and its ponds
See ‘Histoire P@ssion’ for a passion for history in Saintonge, Aunis and Engoumois