Mount Alta circuit

The sandy areas are numerous throughout the three forests of Chantilly, Halatte and Ermenonville, the most famous being the site of the la Mer de Sable theme park in Ermenonville.
Sand mining, in particular for the glass industryQuarrying, historically by Saint-Gobain, was important in Aumont-en-Halatte, but has been completely stopped since the Second World War. A few quarries are still active in the north-east of the forest.

This is the base, the buried part, of a milestone at the junction of three plots, of Constable Anne de Montmorency, the King and the Bishop of Senlis.
The cross-section, which is only a few centimetres above the ground, shows the start of the faces that were to bear the coats of arms of the owners of the plots.

The causes and date of the destruction of this bollard are not known. However, as the base is well anchored in the ground, it was deliberately destroyed, without any connection with forestry operations. What was the aim: to remove markers from the Ancien Régime, or to cut out an example of an emblazoned boundary stone to keep it in another place?

This marker is the most remarkable and easiest to find in the forest.
Like the next two terminals, it has on one side the coat of arms of the King of France on the one hand, and the Constable Anne de MontmorencyHere the date is 1540 on the side of the King of France.
This boundary marker is not well positioned. Normally, an owner's coat of arms faces his land and the top of the bollard indicates the parcel boundary.

Roughly speaking, the right side of the road belongs to the Constable and the left to the King. The milestone is perpendicular to the road. It is likely that this milestone served as a road marking for hunting purposes in the 17th and 18th centuries. Then dug up so as not to get in the way, it would have been reinstatement along the way, but without respecting its orientation. A 1905 photo shows the milestone in its entirety, out of the ground.

This bollard had been dug up and laid on the ground. It was the subject of a reinstalled during the bollard rectification campaign in November 2023. Its position was previously defined by a surveyor, taking into account the other milestones. Today we can clearly see the alignment of the four terminals one after the other.

On the south side, facing the wood he had surrounded in 1540, is the Livrée Wood, the arms of Constable Anne de Montmorency and the date. To the north, facing Bois du Roiare thehe coat of arms of the Kings of France The three fleurs-de-lys crest surmounted by the royal crown. This coat of arms with three fleurs-de-lys is often reused by royal cities or religious establishments founded by a king.

This terminal, in its original positionpresents the coat of arms of the King of France and date on the north side and those of Constable Anne de Montmorency on the south side.
The north-west corner of the milestone has been broken before engraving, as the royal coat of arms is off-centre and reduced to fit on the flat part.

The arms of Constable Anne de Montmorency consist of a quarterly of 4 times 4 alerions (small eagles used in heraldry) commemorating of the Montmorency victories Above the shield, a tortil, the crown of baron, Anne de Montmorency's title in 1540; around the shield, the collar of the Order of Saint Michael, interlaced shells and a medallion of the archangel Saint Michael slaying the dragon. Finally, on either side, the sword of the Constable of France, recognisable by the fleur-de-lys on the pommel. Anne de Montmorency was appointed Constable of France by François I in 1538.

The milestone is at the junction of three plots. You can see the coats of arms of the Constable de Montmorency and the King of France. The third side features an escutcheon containing "Le Morel written in Gothic. This refers to Jean or Jehan Morel, lieutenant of the baillage of Senlis in 1540 ("The" for "I"). Le Bois Morel, whose other landmarks we will see later, is the city's bailiwick wood.
The top of the bollard shows, in relief, plot boundaries. This is clearly visible when several plots join, as is the case here, but it is also the case when there is an inflection in the plot boundary. This feature is exceptional in France.
This bollard had been dug up and laid on the ground. It was also put back in place during the terminal rectification campaign at the end of 2023.

Mount Alta is the hill we're standing on, 142m above sea levelwhose name is associated with that of the Halatte forest.

The crossroads is at the intersection of Route de l'Arbre à Fougères and Route Sarrobert. It is not at the highest point, as we are only 139m above sea level.
The Mont Alta poleThis post, which appears in the 1733 State of the Forests, had disappeared. A new post, made identically to the old one, has recently been put in place by APTF, Association des Poteaux des Trois Forêtswhich is responsible for maintaining, renovating and safeguarding these buildings. historic posts on the three forests of Chantilly, Halatte and Ermenonville.

This boundary marker, and the next one, mark the eastern boundary of Morel Wood, the first boundary marker of the western boundary with Constable Wood. This is not the series of armorial markers from 1540, but markers identified by letters, i.e. simply engraved.

On its eastern edge, the Bois Morel borders ona wood at Saint-Vincent de Senlis Abbey. This milestone is engraved with the letters RSV which mean Religious of Saint-Vincent.
There is no engraved date, nor any preserved document relating to this boundary, which is very different from that of 1540, but it is probable, by analogy with other boundary stones, that it dates from the 17th century.
The operation to rectify the bollards in November 2023 only concerned the armorial bollards. Another campaign will have to be undertaken for these.

This pillar was dug up and placed on the ground within the last 15 years, probably when the plot was being logged. It was used for the same purpose as the previous marker: marking the boundary between the Bois Morel and a wood belonging to the Saint-Vincent de Senlis abbey.
It is marked MOREL. The very regular shape of the milestone, which is different from the previous one, and the regularity of the writing suggest that it dates from the 18th century.

We return to the series of milestones from 1540. We are on the dividing line between the Bois de la Livrée belonging to the Constable and Bois Morel in the Senlis bailiwickWe saw the first milestone before the Mont Alta post. This post is rectangular in shape with a flat top, quite different from the first posts we saw. Several tailors' workshops probably worked on this site.

It bears the coat of arms of the Constable and the date 1540 on the west side, while the inscription in the escutcheon on the east side shows only "Morelin Gothic style. The top indicates a bend in the boundary line of the plot.
The next milestone can be seen, following its alignment, on the other side of the road.

This bollard takes the shape of the first ones we saw, flared at the bottom with a rounded top. The date 1540 is engraved above the coat of arms of the Constable de Montmorency on the west face. The writing on the inscription "Le Morel in the escutcheon on the east side, this time in Latin capitals.

As with stone cutting, there were probably at least two different workshops for engraving. They probably had models to follow in order to the coat of arms of the Constable de Montmorency because, apart from the size, they do not differ from one milestone to another, but there are much more summary indications for the other owners. And in this case, only the name, with no indication of the engraving style.

The following two milestones do not mark the boundary of a Constable's wood, but a wood belonging to the chapter of the parish of Saint-Rieul in Senlis which benefited from this demarcation campaign. This boundary stone is at the junction of three parcels belonging to the Chapter of Saint-Rieul, the Bishopric of Senlis and the parish of Saint-Gervais d'Aumont-en-Halatte.

The north face bears the coat of arms of the chapter of Saint Rieul surmounted by the date 1540 and the south-west face the coat of arms of the bishopric of Senlis. On the south-east side, the parish of Aumont-en-Halatte is represented by a naive representation of Saint Gervaisrecognisable by the halo and the palm of martyrdom, framed by the letters S and G, with no escutcheon. Aumont-en-Halatte was a village of charcoal burnersThis is a very simplistic depiction of the poor.

This milestone, which is in very good condition, bears the date 1540 on the south side and the coat of arms of the bishopric of Senlis In the middle is the S for Senlis, surmounted by two fleurs-de-lys (royal city) and crossed vertically by the bishop's crozier. The coat of arms of the chapter of Saint-Rieul represents the saint, first bishop of Senliswith mitre and crosier, framed by the letters S and R, and with a stag and a doe at his feet. Legend has it that his sermons were so enlightened that the frogs stopped croaking and the animals came to the church door to listen.

This milestone is aligned with the previous one, on the other side of the road, as the roads were laid out for hunting purposes in the 17th and 18th centuries, without taking into account the division of forest plots at the time.