The Bost walk, starting from Saint-Séverin-d’Estissac

Park near the Town Hall in Saint-Séverin-d’Estissac.

(S/E) From the signpost in front of the town hall, go down the steps, cross the road and head towards Rue de l’Église.
Walk down to the church, which offers a lovely view and a picnic table. Retrace your steps past the cemetery, then turn right onto Rue de Ceinture. You’ll reach a four-way junction.

(1) Turn right, then immediately left, past the tobacco drying shed. Follow the ‘chemin de castine’ path, skirting a pond on your left. Shortly afterwards, at the next crossroads, keep left and follow the shaded path through the pine trees. At the end of the path, you’ll come to a tarmac road.

(2) Turn right onto it, cross a small stream and come to another four-way junction.

(3) Leave the road and turn left onto the DFCI, a ‘chemin de castine’. Continue along the ‘chemin de castine’, leaving the small forest path that descends to your right (three-way signpost). When you reach the junction with the ‘Brande de Guibert’ sign, carry on straight ahead. Walk alongside a fenced-off woodland, continuing straight ahead whilst leaving the small path on your left. After a short climb, past a private property on the right marked by a wooden fence, carry on until you reach the D39.

(4) Turn left onto it, taking great care with the traffic on this stretch of road. You will soon reach an X-shaped junction.

(5) Leave the D39 and turn right onto the Route des Peyrieras. Pass a telecoms mast and you’ll reach the entrance to the hamlet of Le Nègre.

(6) Leave this charming hamlet on your right and follow the road to the left. Head down the tarmac road until you reach the Stop sign. Turn right, following a low stone wall with a well on your right.
Cross the Ruisseau de la Crempsoulie, then tackle the steep climb up the C13 towards Saint-Séverin-d’Estissac before returning to the car park near the town hall (S/E).

Estissac Castle
In the 14th century, Estissac Castle was the seat of a castellany to which three parishes were attached: Saint-Hilaire, Saint-Jean and Saint-Séverin. The exact location is unknown and it may have been destroyed during the Hundred Years’ War, as the English border was not far away. Neither the castle nor its treasure has ever been found, so watch your step.
The name of the village of Saint-Séverin-d’Estissac first appears in the 13th century, linked to its church – which no longer exists – in the Latin form ‘Sanctus Severinus’, ‘Severinus’ being the name of a 5th-century bishop of Bordeaux.

The church
The church is situated below the village centre. It was rebuilt in the 15th century, presumably on the ruins of a former priory thought to have been built in the 13th century. In the 19th century, the church was completely rebuilt.
A distinctive feature of this church is that the bell turret is built into the entrance wall (wall-mounted bell turret).

The tobacco drying sheds
As is typical of the agricultural landscape, a few tobacco drying sheds dot the valleys. The typical tobacco drying sheds are wooden structures set on low stone walls; their design is tailored to their function: the sheds feature numerous narrow vertical openings, known as ‘fenestrous’, fitted with adjustable slatted shutters that help to speed up air circulation.
Tobacco cultivation in the Dordogne left its mark on the 20th century, as it provided a means of escaping self-sufficiency. Thanks to this annual crop, farmers received a significant income once a year from the sale of the year’s harvest to the Régie Nationale des Tabacs. It has been said that this crop – barring hailstorms – acted as a form of social security for farmers, a guaranteed insurance policy promising an annual income. It provided the means to pay land taxes, fund major building works and, as is often said in the Périgord, to put money aside for a rainy day.

The hamlet of Le Nègre
The etymological origin of ‘Le Nègre’ remains a mystery:
- a charcoal burner is said to have lived here,
- this locality has many ‘cluseaux’ or ‘trous-nègre’,
- the old spelling of ‘forêt’ is ‘lannégré’.

The stones around the War Memorial
Around the First World War memorial, a view of stone elements from the old school, which used to stand on the site of the village hall, including a washbasin and latrines.