Carvannel Menhir forum 1 room
Image by Mr Hamhead
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Hmm, what to say other than I'm pretty excited?


Was out this afternoon in a relatively overlooked bit of the county (Kerrier) and on a totally non-stone related derive about with the camera (on a mission to chronicle some of the Kerrier badlands abandoned farms and rusty vehicles, actuellement)...also deciding as is my wont to take in some of the more obscure footpaths of the Carnmenellis district to see if they were actually walkable..and I think, I really really do, that I've come across, to use local parlance, a gurt big minger of a previously unrecorded menhir...s'about 7 feet high, set on end, perfectly upright and pretty wide indeed with a marked declivity to the top...it's set in a hedge line (the hedge itself is raggedy gorse, not stone) amongst a warren of small streamside/heath edge pasture.
Now I'm being cautious because 1) I am; 2) because its right beside a footpath with a waymarker post, however patchily overgrown and near-impassable that path is in places; 3) Erm, feel a bit out of my league chestbeating about what to me, the more I look at it, seems a beauty....but egg on face and that...
So yes I do have a pic, was wondering if anyone else wanted to offer me a second, third &c. opinion on this one before I go ahead and post it?
You can contact me offlist at [email protected] learned comment needed!

Yr humble &c.
Chris

Pee Ess - in all that burble I forgot I'm more than happy to forward said pic for perusal... could say with a degree of certainty tisn't a recent erection, got a small gorse colony on top...neither does it look dressed to any degree, nor is it proximate to a quarry...and although arguably it could've come from intake clearance, I'm surprised it's been set upright at any time in post-industrial history personally, not just gathered with other such clearance material into a heap, broken up for building, blah...

Help me with this one guys!

Chris

I assume you've checked out the usual places - Magic, CAU (or whatever they're called now), Romance of the Stones etc. Have you got a grid ref (or is it secret for now?)

I'll be down that way again next month and could maybe give a second (amateur) opinion.

Have you checked in the Library in Redruth or with RCM to see if there's any note of it anywhere?

Sounds good Chris.
cant wait to see some pics. I reckon Mr H is right , that theres still a fair bit of stuff hidden amongst the gorse, especially up carnmenellis way. Do you know anything about a stone near halvasso not far from eathorne? A friend of mine took me up there- about chest high , chunky, unhewn granite- ring any bells?
Also theres something i,ve spotted from the road in the valley south of the burras menhir?
Keep up the search!

hello
I see you've put up a photo of the stone.

I'll admit I don't know anything about quarrying / geology. It was just that I noticed the very parallel lines on the side of it. I know some rocks would do this anyway, but isn't this made out of some hard granitely cornish thing? and if so, they won't be weathering? so could they be traces of how it was cut out the ground?
Just asking, I don't know if there's enough on the photo for people to say.?