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Just off the battlefield, Chantelet Farm was Marshal Ney’s headquarters for the night before Waterloo : it played a major strategic role during the events of June 1815. The farm and surrounding lands saw intense Franco Prussian clashes on 17 and 18 June after the engagement at Quatre Bras.
The site is also known for a 1915 fossil discovery: a 50 million year old crocodile, nicknamed the «Chantelet Crocodile,» was found here.
Nearby, you can find the Chapelle du Chantelet, built of white limestone and red brick in a Baroque style, offers a peaceful counterpoint.
Though normally private, this place and its chapel remain powerful markers of both natural and military history.
