Bois Cornec

The Bois du Cornec, located above Lac de Guerlédan, is home to numerous old fire pits, the remains of an important charcoal production site. Some twenty of these circular platforms, used from the 17th to the 19th centuries, are still visible and will be integrated into the future Guerlédan-Parc-Aventure.

They were used to produce charcoal for the blast furnaces of the Forges des Salles and Saint-Gilles-Vieux-Marché. This work, carried out in autumn, was hard work: exposure to bad weather, smoke, burns and the risk of explosion. The nomadic charcoal burners lived in families in shelters made of branches, and were often poorly perceived by the local population.

Production required precise know-how: choose a flat site, sheltered from the wind and close to the cut, build a central chimney, assemble the wheel of logs, then cover with vegetation and earth for slow combustion. A millstone supplied 3 to 4 tons of coal.

The closure of the blast furnaces at the end of the 19th century put an end to the charcoal-making trade, which helped to preserve the surrounding forests.