Belgian megaliths

When I was in my teens, I used to have this hobby of visiting ancient monuments – in particular standing stones and ringforts, of which there are plenty within a stone’s throw of the old family home in Loughbrickland, Co Down. There are a lot fewer around in Belgium (indeed, I suspect that the whole country has fewer prehistoric monuments than County Down). But I spent some time today trying to gather and systematise the information about them on the internet.

Blackraven’s site lists and maps the best ones in Belgium. I’ve grouped them geographically below with a note of driving time from my home.

West:
Hollain/Brunehaut. Biggest Belgian standing stone. 1h 23m drive.

South:
Velaine sur Sambre. Pierre qui Tourne. 52 min.
Charleroi. Carved standing stone, in the museum. 1h 1m.
Gozée. Standing Stone called the “Zeupire”. 1h 10m.
Boutonville. Pierre qui Tourne. 1h 40m.

Weris complex:
Wéris seems to be the Belgian Stonehenge. 1h 25m drive.
Solwaster. Possible sacrificial stone (natural formation). 1h 10m.
Waha. Pierre St Hubert. Near the oldest church in Belgium! 1h 17m.
Blantch Cayous d’Mouchny. Maybe a stone circle, maybe not. 1h 29m.
Forrières. Devil’s stones. 1h 19m.

South of Weris:
Gomery. Dolmen. Almost as far south as you can go in Belgium. 1h 57m drive.
Neufchâteau. Standing stone now in town square. 1h 33m.
Bohan. Pierre à Marier, moved from its original position. 1h 43m.

There is also a Belgian leylines site which lists a lot more, but with almost no information about them. At least in this case they are grouped by province, which makes it easier to plan how one might visit them. Again, driving time from my front door is noted.

Practically in the next village:
Dolmen in royal park in Tervuren (but moved from Duisburg). 18 minutes.

South of here:
Pierre-qui-Tourne, Court-St-Etienne. 31 min.
Perwez. Grosse Pierre. 33 mins.

East of here:
Lange Steen, Tienen. 24 min.
Chapel of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Ten-Steen in Hakendover (not clear if the stone itself is still there). 26 min.
prehistoric grotto in Jauche. 32 min.
Neerwinden/Middelwinden. Tumulus and menhir which may be Roman. 34 min.

South-West of Brussels:
Steenborre, Buizingen. 38 min.
Virginal-Samme. Wizard’s table. 47 min.

North of Brussels:
Zemst. “Elf-stone” or “Half-stone”. 27 min.

I must say I’m very attracted by the cluster south of Tienen. Once the weather gets better I can start exploring properly. And maybe take pictures to post here.

One thought on “Belgian megaliths

  1. Your 2001 seemed familiar – I think I’ve been reading your journal for a long time!

Comments are closed.