Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

La Pierre Tournante, also known as Pierre du Camp Bérot or Pierre de Cambero, is a menhir listed as a historical monument since 1956. Located at the place called "Planche à la Housse", in the "Champ Bérot" in Fresney-le-Puceux (Calvados), this 2.70 m long and 1 m high pudding block rests half buried at the edge of the Cinglais forest. Its pyramidal appearance and delabration make it an emblematic vestige of Norman Neolithic.

According to the sources, the stone is associated with a persistent legend: it would turn on itself every year on Christmas night. An oral tradition even evokes a monk from Barbery Abbey, named Don Bernard, who would have waited for the devil on this stone for a miraculous journey to Rome. This story, popularized by a local novel (La Rose de Fresney), combines folklore and religious history, although its authenticity remains uncertain.

The menhir, now lying and partially buried, illustrates the importance of megaliths in popular beliefs. Ranked among the historical monuments in 1956 (decree of 23 January), it is also included in the inventories of the megalithic sites of Calvados. Its approximate location (5165 Le Champ Berot) and its current state highlight the challenges of preserving prehistoric remains in rural areas.

The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) confirm its status as protected menhir, without specifying any other archaeological details. The site, accessible in the open, remains a tangible testimony of the practices and imaginations related to Neolithic in Lower Normandy (now Normandy).

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