Olhain: the forest, the moated castle and the Fairies' Table

Olhain sits on the first ridge of the Artois hills, in the Pas-de-Calais. Three places make it special — and they are the heart of our Olhain micro-site, where they are drawn as a cartoon, and of the adventure game we are preparing.

An ancestral forest

The state forest of Olhain covers about 290 hectares. With its hillside it is listed as a ZNIEFF (a natural area of ecological, faunal and floral interest) and it is managed by the national forest office, the ONF. A LIDAR survey by the ONF revealed something nobody had seen: a large Middle Neolithic enclosure, about 6,000 years old — two ditches, a bank and three entrances — hidden under the trees. The "Bois d'Olhain" site has been a listed historic monument since 15 June 2023.

Next to it, the Olhain county park (inaugurated in 1973, 450 hectares, nearly 170 of them wooded) welcomes about 700,000 visitors a year.

A castle standing on the water

In Fresnicourt-le-Dolmen, the Château d'Olhain rises from the middle of its moat: two bridges, a gatehouse, a guard tower over 30 m high, the guards' hall with its sandstone fireplace bearing the Berghes coat of arms. The present castle dates from the early 15th century (oak timber was delivered for works on the "hôtel d'Olehain" in 1407); it was taken, occupied and damaged in the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries, and has been listed as a historic monument since 12 April 1989. It is privately owned and opens on some afternoons in the warm season.

The Fairies' Table

In the village, a huge stone slab of about 3 m by 2.5 m rests on three standing stones: the dolmen of Fresnicourt, the Table des Fées, listed since 1889. Legend says that "white ladies" come to dance in a ring around it…

Every fact above comes from the sources listed at the bottom of the Olhain page.