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Name :
Saint-molf
Origin of
name : An Irish monk named
Maidulf (from the latin Maildulphus) went
into exile to south-west England where he
founded the Malmesbury monastery in 638;
he died in 676. Thereafter the memory of
this saintly man was borne by the Breton
emigrants of Great Britain fleeing the Saxons.
They settled in the village where Saint
Germain had been already honoured since
the 5th century; they named him after the
holy man and his patronage replaced that
of the Auxerrois saint. But Maidulf too
difficult to pronounce was gradually modified
to Molf, pronounced “Mô”
by the population and latinised by the Church
to Medulphus.
It is unlikely that saint Molf was canonized.
Nevertheless in 1775 ABBOT MACE, at the
time rector of SAINT-MOLF, sent over for
a fragment of armbone of the holy monk from
England by way of a relic and it is kept
as such in the present reliquary.
Name of inhabitants
: MENDULPHINS, from the
latin designation given by the Church :
Medulphus.
History of
habitat : Traces found from
the Stone Age (4000-3000 b.c.) in Butte
aux cerfs, near the hamlet of Trebrezan
which was most likely the center of a rudimentary
workshop of arrows, hooks and flint daggers.
In the Metal Ages (1800 b.c.) the vicinity
of Petit Traict became the “industrial
estate” of the Peninsula : The Bronze
Age at Trebrezan and Quifistre where coins
and metal axes were discovered, the Iron
Age in the locality of Les Forges, the primitive
core of the village, situated at the time
near the first chapel Saint Germain. Are
the industrial centers of St. Molf, Carpadoux
and Kervenel mounds, Butte-aux-Cerfs and
Binguet mound Celtic or Galic ? The archaeologists
are not yet decisive.
Roman roads criss-cross the commune :
- A small road Saint-Lyphard – Piriac
with junction direction Merquel and another
Clis.
- A large paved road, the main road of the
region, linking the Vilaine and the Loire
by Asserac and Guerande going through Trebrezan,
Montpignac, La Motte, Malabri and Kerguenec.
(An
excerpt from P. Mercier and Y. Horeau “Dans
la boucle du Mès, Mesquer, Quimiac,
Saint-Molf” 1972, unfortunately out
of print).
Foundation
date of the commune : 1790.
Liste des
Maires : 07/02/1790 : Jean
Louis Pissebûche who resigned in autumn
on account of being transferred - 14/11/1790
: Julien Berthe de Kermoisan - 01/01/1792
: Jean Vailland - 1795 à 1800 : François
Thomas, maire provisoire, remplacé
par Pissebûche puis par François
Perraud - 14/09/1810 : Guimard - 07/1816
: François Le Chauff de Kerguenec
- 1833 : Jean Marie Guimard - 06/09/1840
: François Tabary - 1842 : Jacques
Bourvy - 27/09/1846 : Désiré
Guilloré - 15/08/1860 : Auguste Herruel
- 17/05/1871 : François Le Chauff
de Kerguenec - 12/1877 : Henri Du Minehy
- 11/02/1883 : François Le Chauff
de Kerguenec - 1904 : Louis Vailland - 17/05/1908
: Henri Le Chauff de Kerguenec - 10/10/1919
: Auguste Gautreau - 03/1929 : Henri Le
Chauff de Kerguenec - 19/05/1935 : Alphonse
Drogueux - 10/05/1953 : Auguste Niget -
12/12/1958 : Camille Berthe - 29/06/1975
: Camille Bertho - 18/03/1983 : Michel Bertho
- 26/03/2001 : Daniel Guihard ...
Totale surface
area : 2282 hectares among
which are 1235 hectares of agricultural
land with 16 farmers / 301 hectares of woodland
/ 315 hectares of marshland / 140 hectares
of saltmarshes with 14 salters.
This dividing up of farmland and saltmarshes
reflects the double tradition of the community;
that of salters and that of the Landes (farmers
or breeders). The surface areas have scarcely
changed since the beginning but the number
of farmers has substantially diminished
as allover France and the number of saltfarmers
has been increasing for some years due to
the recultivation of the marshes abandoned
for many years.
.
Coat
of arms :
Represents as follows :
- Above left the Salinas with circles
for the salt and 5 squares for the
crystallization pools; the empty
squares are the land.
- Bottom right the labouring of
the land is represented by a plough.
- The two remaining parts indicate
the vegetation.
- The bar of ermine commemorates
the commune being a member of Brittainy.
- The dukes crown recalls the passage
of Anne of Brittainy through the
commune.
- The cornears are man’s basic
diet.
This coat of arms does reflect well
the significance of the duality
concerning the surface areas. |
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Population
: 1883 inhabitants : 01/01/2005.
Map of commune
: PDFmap, you can download
it here.
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