Springs and wash houses near La Belle towards Périgné

Parking is available on the grassy verges of the triangular junction, situated slightly off the road from Périgné to Montigné. The easiest way to get there is to take the road on the right when coming from Saint-Romans-lès-Melle towards Périgné at the junction where the Périgné water tower is located.

(S/E) Set off along the farm track heading east, ignoring all the roads at this junction, which marks the starting point of this route. This track climbs very gently before continuing almost flat across the Mellois plateau.
At the first junction of farm tracks, take the one on the right at roughly a right angle. At the next junction, continue straight ahead, ignoring the track on the right.

(1) At the slightly offset junction of farm tracks, turn left. Pass a farm track on the right, then further on, at the junction where the farm track meets a road, take the road opposite.
Turn left onto the first road towards Les Oulmes. At the T-junction near Les Oulmes, turn right onto the Route des Oulmes and pass the Fontaine Pion, just before a junction.

(2) Continue by taking the left-hand branch towards Le Rompis. Follow the hamlet, pass the road on the left after the last house and, at the junction with the D103 about twenty metres further on, continue straight ahead.

(3) At the crossroads, turn right towards Le Soulier and at the next T-junction, turn right and leave the hamlet on your left (the route passes through it a little later). The small road leads to Montigné via Rue du Chaumeau. Ignore the various roads on the left, including the Route de Saint-Médard. At the next stop sign, turn left into Venelle du Moulin. At the top of the lane, a footpath leads to Rue de l’Église.

(4) Turn left onto this street towards Souchon.

(5) On reaching Souchon, turn left and then, at the next T-junction, turn right towards Saint-Médard. Pass the road leading to Les Puy Maigreau on your right and, shortly afterwards, turn left into Rue du Chaumeau.

(6) At the first junction, leave the road towards Fontegrive (private property) on your right and continue towards the hamlet of Le Chaumeau. Rue du Chaumeau ends at a T-junction: turn right down the road and then left about a hundred metres further on.

(3) Leave the road you took on the way there on your left and continue straight on towards La Pierre. Cross the River Belle via a bridge. Shortly afterwards, leave the road leading to La Forge on your right, and a little further on, the road on the right.

(7) At the entrance to the hamlet of La Pierre, turn left into Impasse du Lavoir. Follow this cul-de-sac until you cross Chemin du Mareuil (turn almost directly opposite, running alongside a triangular square).
Continue along the Route de la Pierre. Pass the Chemin des Chênes Verts on your right and, immediately after, a street on your left. Continue straight on towards La Taupinière, passing two cul-de-sacs on your left and the Route de la Taupinière on your right.

(8) At the four-way junction, turn left onto Chemin du Bois à Martin. This road crosses the D103, which you cross by continuing straight ahead. Turn left immediately afterwards to quickly reach the starting point of the route (S/E).

A varied route alternating between farm tracks and small roads. Given the quality of the tracks and roads, this route is suitable for all weather conditions and is also suitable for mountain bikes.
It is advisable to wear suitable footwear.

(2) At the junction with the D103, you can take a quick detour to the right to the nearby Fontenelles wash house.

La Belle
The River La Belle is a tributary of the River La Boutonne. With a length of 25.1 km, it forms part of the catchment area of the Garonne, the Adour, the Dordogne, the Charente and the coastal waterways of Charente and Aquitaine. It flows through five towns in the Deux-Sèvres department: Celles-sur-Belle, Périgné, Secondigné-sur-Belle, Seligné and Vitré.

Périgné
The church dedicated to Saint Martin was built in the 12th century. It was listed as a Historic Monument by decree on 10 February 1913. A Latin inscription visible inside on the pillar closest to the altar, above the capital, refers to restoration work carried out in 1620.
PRIOR HANC ECCLESIAM RESTAVRAVIT ANNO DOMINI 1620. The prior restored this church in the year of our Lord 1620.

++Château de la Guittonnière ++
In the 15th century, La Guittonnière belonged to the Roux family; one of their daughters, Guillemette, brought it as a dowry in 1470 when she married Antoine Rogier, a burgher of Poitiers. Their daughter, also named Guillemette, brought it as a dowry in 1507 when she married Jacques Berland, Lord of Saint-Médard.
Jacques was mayor of Niort in 1509 and 1536. La Guittonnière passed to his son Philippe, who was also mayor of Niort in 1536. Among his children, the eldest, Jacques, a squire and councillor at the Parliament of Brittany in 1579, inherited La Guittonnière, which he passed on to his eldest son Philippe, a knight, Lord of La Guittonnière, Saint-Médard, Les Ousches-en-Périgné, La Sergenterie and Mairé. Philippe married Françoise Thibault in 1632; they had a daughter also named Françoise, who married her cousin François Thibault in 1666, to whom she brought La Guittonnière. From 1507 to 1666, La Guittonnière was owned by the Berland family, whose coat of arms was: “azure, two silver mullets, the field strewn with gold stars” (still visible on the battlements of the castle tower).
From 1666 to 1754, La Guittonnière remained in the Thibault family. In 1754, Philippe Thibault, Marquis de la Ferté, sold the estate to Baptiste de Bonneval, Inspector General of the Kingdom’s Manufactories, along with Saint Médard, Les Ouches in Périgné, etc., who in turn sold it in 1772 to Jean Etienne Delavault (1721–1783), prior-parish priest of Amuré and chaplain to the hospital in Niort, and Louis Delavault. Madame Anaïs Delavault, who died in 1909, bequeathed the estate to Mme Lagarde, who sold it on to Mr Aumônier.
Extract from the Périgné local newsletter No. 5 – January 2017.