An intangible heritage - La Hague Geopark

The art of dry stone construction: know-how and techniques.

Dry stone walls, along with their associated rubers (long, tall stones placed in fields for animals to rub against) and perforated stones, are characteristic features of the landscapes of Cap de La Hague. The type of stone used varies depending on the area: granite, arkose, sandstone, etc. This traditional craft has been inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. It offers numerous advantages: combating runoff and erosion, providing habitat for many species, reducing carbon footprint, and ensuring proven durability when constructed according to traditional methods.

Smuggling

Fraud involving manufactured goods, particularly textiles, in the 17th and 18th centuries, practiced by a few large organized gangs, and tobacco fraud carried out by larger and less structured teams in the 19th century, smuggling is part of the history of La Hague.

This translates into different patterns in the landscape: large "hides", several square meters in size, supported by stone masonry, concealed by vegetation or blended among the rocks; gabions, made of various materials collected on the coast (stones, branches, peats, pebbles, etc.) built mostly without a plan or architectural rule by the customs officers themselves in order to create a shelter; small domestic caches, which also used to house products intended for family consumption; but also barracks, and of course the customs officers' path from which they carried out their surveillance.

The legends

Numerous legends surround La Hague, inspired by the mysterious landscapes of hidden caves, steep cliffs, winding paths, and deserted, misty, and unsettling moors. White ladies, fairies, goblins, and varous (werewolves) are all part of the local folklore. Many maidens haunt certain places in La Hague, playing tricks on men.

Goblins are also known as mischievous sprites, more playful than wicked. Other tales or legends draw on landscape features or specific places. The story of Gargantua recounts that the giant is responsible for the formation of certain rocks from Saint-Germain-des-Vaux to Auderville, and for the emergence of the island of Alderney.

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The engraving

Seaweed harvesting was a seigneurial right that consisted of retrieving what the sea cast up on the shore, from seaweed to the cargoes of wrecked ships, if the shipwreck occurred on the lord's fief. Collected after winter storms, the seaweed was burned directly in kilns made of tightly packed stones or pebbles, traces of which can still be found along the shore today, for the production of soda ash from the early 18th to the early 20th century.

Today, some residents are still scouring the beaches after a storm, searching for treasures…