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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The death monument of Esse, made in the form of a cromlech, consists of ten blocks of granite arranged in a circle, with a triangular stele engraved with the names of the 43 soldiers who died during the First World War. In the centre, a hairy sculpture rests on a stone of the dead, while a pentagonal fence decorated with swords and palms delimits space. The access is done by four granite steps, and an engraved stone explains the symbolism of the place, combining homage to the disappeared and reference to the prehistoric ancestors.

This unique monument was designed under the direction of Jean Teilliet (1870–1931), a Limousin painter and folklorist, a former student of the Decorative Arts of Limoges and the Fine Arts of Paris. Attached to the local popular culture, he integrated a fragment of the slab of a broken dolmen of Perissac for the stele, justifying this choice by a text engraved on the spot: "on this bench of the dead [...] is deposited the image of our dear children dead for France". The work, carved by José Martin and Teilliet himself, combines collective memory and megalithic heritage, while raising questions about the preservation of archaeological heritage.

Ranked a historic monument in 2021, the monument stands on the square of the church of Esse, at the foot of a linden called Sully. Its present state reveals cracks in the material (cement, lime or plaster), while its location, noted as "passible" (5/10) by the sources, makes it both emblematic and fragile. The granite fence and steps, as well as the explanatory stone, underline its sacred and educational character, anchored in local history and the Great War.

The association between the cromlech, symbol of the early ancestors, and the list of soldiers who fell in 1914–18 creates a dialogue between the distant past and recent memory. Teilliet, figure of the Limousins of Paris and promoter of regional traditions, sees there a continuity between prehistoric funeral rites and modern tribute. However, the use of dolmenic elements, although claimed as a tribute, is now questioning the limits between artistic reuse and preservation of archaeological heritage.

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