Last modified: 2026-10-10 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: ille-et-vilaine | maen roch | saint-brice-en-cogles |
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Maen Roch (literally meaning in Gallo "The circle of stones"; Breton: Maen Roc'h) is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Saint-Brice-en-Coglès (the seat) and Saint-Étienne-en-Coglès.
The name Saint-Brice itself first appeared in 1050, associated with
the church of Saint-Brice de Puiniac. At that time, the church fell
under the authority of the Abbey of Saint-Florent de Saumur in Anjou,
the recipient of the original land grant. The abbey established a
priory there, and missionaries dedicated the church to Saint Brice,
the 5th-century Bishop of Tours.
The lordship of Saint-Brice, which dated back to the 10th century, was
a vassal of the Barony of Fougères within the Duchy of Brittany. Raoul
II, Baron of Fougères, defended the barony’s borders against the
English - stationed at nearby Saint-James - using the fortified castles of
La Motte and Le Rocher Portail. In 1513, Guy de Scépeaux, Lord of
Saint-Brice, sold the lordship to Philippe de Montauban, Chancellor to
Duchess Anne.
Ownership of the Saint-Brice estate subsequently passed to the Volvire
family (Lords of Ruffec) and later to the Guérin de La Grasserie
family (Lords of Parigné, in 1674). An ancient châtellenie comprising several castles and manor houses, the lordship was elevated
to a barony by Charles IX in 1566 and to a marquisate by Louis XIV in
1644.
Two coats of arms were used alternately to represent the lordship of
Saint-Brice: that of the Scépeaux family (vairé argent and gules) and
an earlier one dating from 1248 (paly of six, or and gules).
The current church was built in 1774.
Opposition to revolutionary ideas erupted following the conscription
of soldiers for the Revolutionary Wars, which began in 1793. On
February 17, 1794, a troop of Chouans led by Aimé Picquet du Boisguy
seized Saint-Brice, driving out the 200-man garrison stationed there.
This marked the beginning of the first Chouannerie uprising in the
Fougères region. Peace was not restored until 1795.
In the 19th century, Saint-Brice underwent two major developments:
granite quarrying and the arrival of the railway. The town expanded at
the expense of the surrounding countryside; its population grew from
300 inhabitants in 1770 to 700 in 1860 and 1,052 in 1911. Alongside
this demographic growth, the commune developed into a small hub for
craft and commercial activity. The railway line between Fougères and
Saint-Brice-en-Coglès was inaugurated on January 24, 1872, followed on
October 11 by the line connecting Saint-Brice to Mont-Saint-Michel.
The station subsequently became a bustling center for the shipment of
granite, livestock, and other regional products, as well as for
passenger traffic.
Olivier Touzeau, 26 September 2026
![[Flag of Fougeres]](../images/f/fr-35-sb.gif)
Flag of Saint-Brice-en-Coglès - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 September 2026
According to Pascal Vagnat's emblemes.free.fr, after a report by Hervé Prat, Saint-Brice-en-Coglès had a banner of arms.
Olivier Touzeau, 26 September 2026