Menhirs of Melon Island

The great menhir appears on the cadastral plan of 1842. It escaped several attempts to cut it up and was listed as a historic monument on 22 February 1921. Before it was destroyed it measured between 6 m and 7 m in height, 2.60 to 2.80 m in width and 1.80 m in average thickness. Its circumference was 9.40 m and its weight was estimated at 80 tonnes. It leaned very slightly to the north-east. According to Alfred Devoir its faces had been regularised.

Two further menhirs stand about 5 m apart on a south-south-west to north-north-east axis. The northern one is the larger and is trapezoidal, 1.90 m high, 1.90 m wide at its widest and 0.50 m thick. It has a cup mark on its west face and two small depressions on its north face that are much more recent and may be bullet impacts. The second measures 1.20 m in height, 1.15 m in width and 0.55 m in thickness.

The south menhir was photographed and drawn by Alfred Devoir in the early 20th century. It was still standing in the last quarter of that century but now lies overthrown at the southern tip of the island. It is a granite block 2.40 m long, 1.50 m wide and 0.50 to 0.60 m thick.

On 2 March 1942 the German army dynamited the great menhir, on the pretext that it served as a landmark for enemy ships. The fragments remain on the spot.