Had no trouble finding these. Left the car in layby opposite the “Rocky valley gallery” and followed footpath signs down the valley crossed over a footbridge across a fast running stream. The carving were just behind the ruins of the old mills about 100 metres after the bridge. Also guided by strips of cloths and other rubbish hanging from the trees around the site. This spoilt an otherwise idlic setting.
Hanging of cloth is quite common at certain holy wells in Cornwall but I was surprised to see it here. There is no tradition on of healing wells or trees at this site perhaps visitors were influenced by displays of cloth on trees at the the nearby Witchcraft museum in Boscastle.
The sign at the site claims that the carvings Bronze-age but there is heavy debate that the carvings could have been carved by a “bored miller”. Perhaps they are ancient but more that one historian has pointed out the that work seems to have been carried out with a tool similiar to the ones used by millwright.
No other carvings of this type are found in Cornwall.
A site full of a mystery and well worth a visit. (Don’t let the miller theory put you off).
Hello
I visited Rocky Valley again recently, having not been there for several years. I started visiting the valley with my parents as a child way back in the 1960s. The items being left near the labyrinths are certainly more garish than they used to be, but I'm sure I can remember as far back as the 60s that people used to leave rags, strips of cloth or handkerchiefs on branches here. As Phil has mentioned above, it's not an uncommon practice elsewhere but I would be interested to learn how far back the custom dates at this particular place. Does anyone have any idea?