Bertinie Cornille

This beautiful medieval village belongs to two families. There are two businesses in this farm. When we visited the place we met the lady who was there as a child (during the shooting of Crossbow). Her father had the farm and made the arrangements. It is an unique place. It's just like walking into the middle ages! I decided not to mention the name because it's a private place and I respect that. This town was very hard to find. C. Petit, a fan of Crossbow, studied all camera angles and the buildings and draw a map. That wasn't that easy because Crossbow is switching many closed angles and over zoom and fake sets, but he succeeded. I went looking via air photos and that worked I had such good map delivered. Without C. Petit I would never have found it.

This beautiful farm / village is a Crossbow town for 'The taking of castle Tanner' episode 31 (Shots: soldiers are after the son of lord Tanner, shots of the the tavern at night and the main village in double episode 29 'The Pit' and episode 30 'The Rock').

Note: As often, this episode has multiple other locations. They make you believe this is in front of the main town and the rock. But the lavoir and the bridge are next to Faucher castle.

The field, on which they were attacked, is next to the rock. The rock and fields are in Paussac et Vivien.

This link is about the main village. Here are some small pictures to refresh the whole scene and to get the picture of the whole episode..

The square with the striking 'balcony stairs.'
For stairs with an open concept upper floor or landing, the upper floor is in fact a kind of balcony. While looking hard for this ancient balcony stairs I found out that this building has a unique look. There are also other balcony stairs but not almost the same as this one. This is the main village in the Pit and the Rock but not attached to the river, the meadow, the Rock and the Pit. That's why it took us very long to find it. There are no pictures on the internet (See below: numbers 1,2 and 3)

While the light is burning inside (photo below), I doubt the tavern is really in this building. I think it's shot in Faucher castle. See the right photo below.

But the meetings between Bolgar and the landlord (Edwins Apps, in episodes the Pit and the Rock) were here in this village.

In The Taking of castle Tanner 1987 Tell goes to the tavern and meets Gothar. This inn seems the interior of Faucher castle.

The cameraman makes you believe you look from the rock right into the village. In fact the rock is not here but in Paussac et Vivien.

You see the scene on the left on top of this rock and then the shot below, as if Bolgar and his sons are looking down from the rock on the village, during the fight.

More shots of this rock on the other site of 'The Pit' and 'The Rock.' There you can find more about Paussac et Vivien.

Above scenes from episodes 'The Pit' and 'The Rock' and below the inn (episode The taking of Castle Tanner). The pit itself is still untraceable.

Below: Seen from number 1 to 2, the green door on the left is where the porch of wood is. Building 1 had a wooden porch, that is no longer there nowadays.

Building 1, partly made of wood or stone? Perhaps there were modern doors they needed to cover or the shed is renovated later. If those blue doubble doors were already there, it was perhaps too modern. But then you should think they only covered the doors...not the whole front.

Shot from nr. 3 to nr. 1 Scene: The messenger warns Tell, the riders are heading this town.

left building 1 Behind the fallen man, there is another shed at the back (compare this photo to the photo below this one).

I assume the rest of this indoor scenes (with Edwin Apps) are shot in this village. While the fireplaces and stones look different. In the next four rows below you see pictures of the indoor scenes.

It stroke me the maps and drawings in Crossbow are always real. This drawn map (above) looks like Brantome or the cave.

Seen from the square to here, the town is getting more narrow. The alley in the middle is an important location where Tell and Bolgar meet and fight.

First we come at spot 4, a little field on the north of this alley to let small cattle graze and an old building with a hayloft. It has a low stone wall border, but the west of the field seemed open. Nowadays there is a huge iron fence placed. You can see below.

The alley in the middle of the town (to nr. 6) and Looking in opposite to the west (to the direction of nr. 2 )

1987 Bolgar and his sons standing here and have this view. (East, from nr 3 to 5. made in May 2017)

Scene: Tell talks to the villagers to plan a resistance against Bolgar and his sons. This is the small field above nr.5

1987 Scene: Bolgard hears Tell speaking about rebellion. Therefore he runs a high risk. Nr: 8 is the building Tell gets shelter after he is beaten up by Bolgar. 2017

A unique house. We looked a long time for this village and this recognizable building. The shots seem an inner garden or a rocky house, but It's just a farmhouse with a bended wall.

Above and below, The Bolgar brothers making trouble in the evening. In the back this stairs, seen from the house with the bended wall (at the right)

Above 'The rock:' and below 'The taking of castle Tanner.' A soldier looks for Lord Tanner's son. And rides this direction ( the west lane)

1987 same place as 'The Rock and The Pit' Here a short shot of The taking of Castle Tanner. Soldiers are looking for Tanner's son. 2017

It seems deserted, most buildings are but one house on this terrain is not. The sun had been down for half an hour. That explains the grey glow on the picture.

1987 The Rock: first she took the stairs down, in a later shot she is more in the back. You can easily recognize the white blocks above the door 1987.

Here you can see the mine. It's a kind of magic.. It was very hard to the picture, because four locations merged to one. We haven't found the cave yet.

'Grotte Cheyroux' Dordogne, not exact the same but you never know they changed the set, it's nearby Paussac. 'Grotte meme' is too large and too far away.

Then there is a ridge with caves hidden called 'Balou,' but there are hardly photos of it. Coincidently I've driven by a lot of caves nearby, same style but not one was the same.

They created a small water about 20 yards... I don't think it's real... I think it's digged out to make it look more like a real mine...the hills of sand and the waterstream... is it fake or real or is it damaged by mining? The small waterfall on top seems fake. Marian and Tell are burried in the mine.

Two months back i found this one, this could be the cave, but I haven't been there. This is an ancient 'Carriere' in Crossbow area.

The picture is taken from inside a former stone quarry. The Chancelade stone is white, of better quality than the quarries of Périgueux, which is bluish gray. It has been used for the construction of several religious buildings in the region. With the arrival of the railroad in the middle of the 19th century, the Chancelade stone was exported throughout the south-west of France to build works of art: small houses, bridges, viaducts, public buildings, railway stations. The Pont de Pierre in Bordeaux has Chancelade stone pilasters. In 1885, the exploitation of the stone is at its peak: the quarries are exploited by the companies Himbert and Chaigneau. Mushroom farms have been installed in part of the old quarries, now abandoned. The stone is still extracted on rare occasions. Nowadays, it is especially the sculptors who covet it. From the inside of the stone quarry, I'm right at the edge of the wall of size that must be 30 or 40 meters high. From this point of view, we can see the landscape of hills in the distance. Below, at the bottom of the quarry, we see the remains of size that have not been removed, blocks of rock of several tons. From this lateral position one can see the waist wall along its entire length.

What is there to hide behind the sandy rocks and the straw roofs? There is a side we can't see. We spotted a short shot of an antenna. Perhaps a television tower, electricty pole or building?

Above: taken from the inside square and below photo taken from the outside. Beautiful!

One building is still a question to me (below, left of Tell, perhaps the low camera angle made the building look a lot bigger, i guess it's just the farm)

Below the inner meadow/garden with beautiful trees. This timberwood building is gone and the pillar georgia walks through with the emperor by the hand is fallen or disappeared or a fake one.

The arcade on the left pictures still excists but the one of the right picture is no longer there or fake (Fake arcades are not unusual in Crossbow, they use many fake wells, statues of stone and made once a huge arcade; the porch to the wasteland). Those impressive high arcades are from a low camerashot and are in fact a bit smaller. That's why It took us a a lot of time to find them!

This wall left is no longer there. I guess it was timber house, we see it in a split second of a crossbow shot The pillar with the half of the arcade seems no longer there.

The building below is made in timber wood style and could have been attached. You can see on the picture with the emperor (right) a part of a wall attached that is disappeaed now.. (see the photo left above).

1987 The other farm is about 200 yards further away (the way they are riding to) In opposite 2017

It seems Horst set the straw roof (attached to the farm) on fire but I believe they changed it directly into an isolated straw tent in front of it. Like this one right below

The picture left above: you see (on the left side) parts of the wall and arcade that used to be there long ago..On the right photo I't seems gone (look in opposite). It was part of the arcade Georgia and the emperor passing.

The emperor and the girl went inside. When they are inside they are in fact in a (nearby) farm. (The farm where the sister died). More about this farm below.

Above (2017) and below (1987) the same place The chimney on the right is gone nowadays

Farm 1 was a wealthy one because of the double arcades. Nowadays it is more a farmers storage. Farm 2 (of Emperor too) perhaps was an empty farm and nowadays well restored!

This is how we searched in the first place.Very hard to find this. Finally C. Petit draw a map on the computer and I found it on google earth from above..

There is a cross, but it doesn't seem to be a church, but another angle of this farm (30 years ago before restoration).

Perhaps there has been a second (fake) pillar I don't know... But a fact is that the shed of this farm was in a bad state.

1987 Absolutely the same spot but the pillar seems bigger, perhaps they changed it. They were great in transformations! 2017

Behind Horst there must have been another pillar..which was standing more free from the farm and a bigger one. It's a little bit strange to see only one of the pillars nowadays. The top is off the pillar and It's almost callapsing.

1987 Above behind Horst, same spot but other pillar, but right from the sister you see the pillar that is the same as now, how can it look so different in the same episode?? 2017

The roof is perfectly restored. So is the whole building! It's always nice to see people care for the old buildings and restored it subtile.

1987 (even the trees (on the right) are still the same on the photo above at right side 2017

We always believed the farm was situated high up, like a riverside or valley behind. But in fact it seemed a tiny country hill with some dew in the back between the farm and the forest