The Penfeld,The ''d'' was added in the 17th century by a naval engineer influenced by the German word ''feld'' - the name is masculine in the

Breton language Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of t ...

. (

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

: ''Penfell'') is a French coastal river. The town of

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

, in

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

, has grown up on its left (east) bank.

Course

Its source is in the town of

Gouesnou Gouesnou (; br, Gouenoù) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. International relations Gouesnou is a satellite town of Brest. Gouesnou is twinned with the town of Brecon in Powys, south Wales enablin ...

. It then passes through

Bohars Bohars (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany north-western France. Bohars is twinned with the village of Tarporley in England, United Kingdom Population Inhabitants of Bohars are called ''Boharsiens'' in French. See also ...

and

Guilers Guilers (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Guilers are called in French ''Guilériens''. Breton language In 2008, 7.02% of primary-school children attended bilingual ...

(a village bears the river's name) before it flows out into the

roadstead of Brest The roadstead of Brest (''rade de Brest'') is a roadstead or bay located in the Finistère Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. The surface area is about 180 km² (70 sq ...

. The Penfeld runs along the former course of the river Aulne, shifted to the west by the opening of the goulet of the

by the interglacial periods of the Quaternary Era. That explains its depth, which allows deep-draught ships to go quite a way upstream, with tides running up it up to deep. At Brest, the Penfeld is crossed by the

Pont de l’Harteloire The Pont de l’Harteloire () is a bridge in Brest, France. Upstream of the Pont de Recouvrance, it connects the two banks of the river Penfeld and overlooks the arsenal de Brest. It is on the site the naval transporter bridge was destroyed du ...

then, some way downstream, by the

Pont de Recouvrance The Pont de Recouvrance () is a vertical-lift bridge in Brest, France, across the river Penfeld. Opened on 17 July 1954, it was the largest vertical-lift bridge in Europe until the opening of the Rouen Pont Gustave-Flaubert in 2008. It links ...

, the largest vertical-lift bridge in Europe until it was dethroned by the

Pont Gustave-Flaubert The Pont Gustave-Flaubert ( en, Gustave Flaubert Bridge) is a vertical-lift bridge over the river Seine in Rouen, Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France. It was officially opened on 25 September 2008 after four years of construction. The bridge itself ...

in 2007. In its last stretch, within embankments high, the Penfeld runs through the Brest naval base, and at its mouth (a site whose strategic importance has been recognised since antiquity) is the 15th-century

Château de Brest The Château de Brest ( br, Kastell Brest) is a castle in Brest, Finistère, France. The oldest monument in the town, it is located at the mouth of the river Penfeld at the heart of the roadstead of Brest, one of the largest roadsteads in the w ...

References

0Penfeld Geography of Brest, France Rivers of France Rivers of Brittany Rivers of Finistère {{France-river-stub