The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Chyenhal

Standing Stone / Menhir

Folklore

From Tresvenack we crossed the fields and moor in the direction of Mousehole, to visit another stone [..] preserved in a field adjoining the farm-house of Chyanhall. This is a block of unhewn granite, irregularly shaped, nine feet in eight, eight feet in circumference near the base, but tapering towards the top in a wedge-like form.

It now answers the ignoble purpose of a rubbing-post for the cattle; but that it was not one originally is clear, not only from its large size, but from the tradition of the neighbourhood that it is a memorial belonging to very ancient times. The labour of moving and erecting such large blocks preclude, as a general rule, any such supposition. A very old man at the farm informed me that it had been there all his days, and had always been spoken of as a stone erected by "the ancient people."
Rambles in Western Cornwall by the Footsteps of the Giants by J O Halliwell-Phillipps (1861).
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
7th August 2013ce
Edited 7th August 2013ce

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