One of the reasons my apprenticeship is taking so long is that, just before starting my course as a Green Badge Guide for SE Wales, I bought a second home in France. My wife is from St Malo in Brittany and her parents, both now in their 80s, live in St Servan, one of the suburbs of the town. We have purchased 10 minutes south on the Rance estuary in a village called St Suliac. St Suliac is classed among the 181 “Prettiest Villages in France”. During the summer, members of the local Patrimoine Society conduct twice weekly tours of the village on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Patrimoine in France has a broader meaning than patrimony in English and includes culture, history and cultural affiliations in addition to the family ties implicit in the English noun. The tours trace the origins of St Suliac, its development as a fishing village and the architectural styles to be found here.

From the point of view of a Welshman, Suliac (Sulio in Latin) is interesting because he was Welsh, with origins at Wrexham Maelor in the north-east of the principality. The story is that, as second son of a “royal” family, he entered the church, while his brother married and became Prince. Unfortunately, the older brother died young and, in order to maintain her hold on power, his widow tried to marry Tysilio (the Welsh form of his name). He was already married to the Celtic church (there are several churches in his name in Wales, including those in Ceredigion, Montgomeryshire, Sir Benfro and Ynys Mon) and fled with his followers to France. The Bristol Channel and Irish Sea were the main highways at the time and he originally went to St Malo as he knew the leading clergy there (St Maclou hailed from Newport in SE Wales). He then decamped to a peninsula 10km south on the estuary of the river Rance and founded a church on top of the Mont Garrot (73m), which moved nearer the bay 600 years later and became the centre of the village of St Suliac. Suliac himself died there in 640CE but his name is immortalised as part of the longest place name in Europe – Lanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwchllantysiliogogococh.

The church on it’s current site was built in the gothic style the early 14^th Century, possibly on the site of an older Romanesque building, but does have a 1.8m menhir shaped stone purporting to be from the tomb of St Sulio.  In 1597, it was attacked from the landward side by around 800 protestant troops and bombarded from the sea during the Wars of Religion, when 250 members of the Catholic League took refuge within. Extermination of the other side was the zeitgeist of this conflict and all the Catholics were killed in the battle that followed. The spire was so badly damaged it fell and was only partially repaired subsequently, with further unsatisfactory repairs in the 17^th, 19^th and early 20^th centuries leading to current fund raising to preserve the building. The usual tour starts outside the church, but a wedding was scheduled for this Saturday afternoon so we hurried inside to see the model of a Galliot, one of the local sailing ships, that remains there. 2 other models of local ships have been removed to collections elsewhere. Little remains of the original 13^th century building, but the church and its collections of stained glass, art and marine history remains well worth a visit.

Church at St Suliac seen from the hill at Grainfollet with Mont Garot in the background

St Sulio’s showing the damaged belfry

Sulio chose the site for his religious community wisely as it is situated 10km from the mouth of the Rance estuary on a peninsula that is sheltered by the hill at Grainfollet to the north and the Mont Garot to the south. These 2 hills also guaranteed a regular supply of fresh water and there are over 20 wells in the village and its surrounds including 3 on the Ruette des Petite Puits (Little Well Lane) leading from the west gate of the church to the harbour. These were needed, not only for drinking water, but also in the making of sails, the third local occupation after farming and fishing in the 19^th Century. Their use ceased when St Suliac was connected to the water supply in 1956. The hooks where the new sails were hung to dry can still be seen on the sides of some of the houses. Other distinctive local features are the Suliacais S in metal on the sides of some chimneys; a bottle built into the masonry of some houses by grateful stonemasons to advertise the generosity of the owner; and gargoyles carves into the eaves and the steps of some houses.

Chimney showing S for St Suliac

It might be thought that is position 10km inland from St Malo would have protected St Suliac from raids by the Vikings. However, local legend has it that a low lying island at the foot of the Mont Garot served as a Viking settlement and port for their dragon-prowed longboats, although archaeological research has failed to find any evidence for such a settlement. This was too far away to see on our walk around the village but made an interesting addition to our guide’s stories.

Oratoire at St Suliac from the quay in summer and close up in autumn

One other feature of St Suliac is the Oratory at Grainfollet, easily visible from the quay. Most of the local men worked aboard fishing boats that sailed from St Malo to the fishing grounds off Newfoundland, Canada for 8-9 months of the year. Many died catching cod in small rowing boats (Doris) and never returned. The inhabitants of St Suliac swore a vow to build a sanctuary to the Virgin Mary if all their menfolk returned safe and sound. This happened in 1893 and the Oratoire and statue were build by August 1894. There is a pilgrimage from the village every year on 15^th August (Assumtion Day).

Local fishing for sand eels (lancons) to sell as bait to catch larger fish such as mackerel also took place using a particular local boat (pointed at both ends, with 3 benches, a single sail, a shallow draft and around 5m long) was also practised until the end of the 1950s when the last working boat was dismantled. Although mainly in use on the Rance estuary, chippes were reputed to have reached the Severn estuary and Ireland. An exact replica, the Chippe Maria was build by a local society and launched in 1991. It is maintained by a local society and offers trips on the Rance during the summer, mainly during festivals. After the summer fete in 2024, I am proud to be included as part of the team that maintains La Chippe Maria, although it will take a lot of training to be allowed to sail her.

La Chippe Maria