This site is of disputed antiquity. If you have any information that could help clarify this site's authenticity, please post below or leave a post in the forum.
Directions:
About 1km south-west of Minions (No sign of Gru!)
Long Tom is easy to spot from the road and parking is also easy – on the grass verge.
Long Tom is a tall, slender stone which has a good covering of ‘hairy moss’ – dried out on my visit due to the wonderful warm weather. The cross carved on its southern face is easier to make out than the cross on the northern side. The stone is situated in a fine moorland setting with good all round views.
Long Tom is well worth stopping off for when en route between visiting Trethevy Quoit and the nearby Hurlers stone circles.
This stone is situated just off the main road 800 metres South West of Minions (on the road towards the A38). The stone stands alone, often amongst sheep roaming the moor, an impressive 285cm (H) x 60 (W) x 30 (D), complete with mark on the back and carved cross. It may have once been a menhir that was then Christianised by carving a cross on its face.
This stone is not mentioned in Craig Weatherhill's excellent book 'Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly' (Cornwall Books - 1985, revised 1997 & 2000), maybe because it bears no inscription to make it more special than the many other stone crosses / Christianised menhirs in Cornwall.
On the horizon behind a line of old mine chimneys can been seen, marking the lode (course of) of a copper vein.