Images

Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by thesweetcheat

Looking north towards Stowe’s Pound and the Cheesewring.

Image credit: A. Brookes (22.6.2018)
Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by UncleRob

Like Hamish’s 2002 photo but without the zoom that makes the hill seem closer than it really is. These are clearly intended to align directly with that hill. It was certainly the focus of activity here all those centuries ago.

Image credit: Copyright waived UncleRob
Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by jezzer

i don’t know the purpose or name of these 2 ‘markers’ or if they are connected to the circle itself, but if you look between them in the distance there is one more standing stone.

Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by Mr Hamhead

Close up of cross carved into the western Piper (i.e the one on the left when walking from the track). It is on the inner side about 5 ft up (just right of centre on this photo)

Sorry, slightly out of focus, being buffetted by good Cornish wind.

Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by pure joy

I was pretty determined to spend ‘Christmas Day’ 2002 on a wind swept moor amongst ancient sites, and I managed to do just that.

I started with a quiet drive to the most famous quoit in East Cornwall, the huge Trethevy Quoit. I had seen it so many times in pictures; it was great to see it for real.

I moved onto toward the Hurlers but not before stopping at The Longstone Cross / Long Tom Cross. It may have once been a menhir that was then Christianised by carving a cross on its face. The stone stands alone, often amongst sheep roaming the moor, and on the horizon a line of old mine chimneys can been seen, marking the lode (course) of a copper vein. Even on this day there were lots of walkers and doggie people around The Hurlers, which was nice. It’s good to see people taking an interest (even a passing interest) in our history. Not only are the circles fascinating, but the whole place is steeped in history, from the Pipers, Rillaton Barrow, the Cheesewring, Stowe’s Pound, and Craddock moor sites, to the plethora of old mining ruins.

Without a map or compass you may be lucky enough to stagger across the fallen Craddock Moor Circle 1 km North West of the Hurlers whilst exploring Craddock Moor. Even with a map and compass you may not find them as the stones are all recumbent and are not visible from any distance. Further on is the tiny Craddock Moor Stone Row. There’s no easy way to describe how to get to this but if you wanna go try my instructions (or practice better compass reading that me – not hard!).

A few kilometres away from the Hurlers area, King Doniert’s Stone(s) stand in a beautiful walled enclosure, complete with stone benches. The Cornwall Heritage Trust could obviously teach English Heritage a thing or two.

I love ancient sites but sometimes you need a break so I went to the Eden Project on the 26th. This is not a criticism but of all the people who needed to go I wasn’t high on the list – I live a few kilometres from Kew Gardens and they are pretty similar in many ways. Anyway, go and see, and if you do, please spend a minute filling in a Gift Aid form, which means that they can claim 28% extra (over and above your admission fee) from the taxman.

On my way to Bodmin Moor I stopped at Lesquite Quoit but couldn’t properly explore, and had a wander around the huge Lanhydrock estate. The rest of the day was spent on the moor visiting the three stone circles of Stannon, Louden Hill, and Fernacre. Many of my stone counts didn’t match other people’s counts, the most interesting of which may have been Louden Hill where I counted 31 stones, as opposed to Craig Weatherhill’s 16/17 stones.

I also stumbled across something that could be interesting, or could just be a few stones in a quarter circle – I’ve taken the liberty of calling it Louden Hill 2?? I take no responsibility for it being just a couple of stones spotted by an eccentric walker on a lonely moor! I also came across a stone cist and two cairns between Louden Hill and Fernacre, which all seemed to align East-West to a stone in the background. As the night descended it led to the photos coming out very dark and now I scratch my head and wonder if it was just my imagination……a strange day.

Image credit: Martin Bull
Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by hamish

I thought I would get the Pipers with the Cheese ring in the far background.

Image credit: Mike Murray
Image of The Pipers (St Cleer) (Standing Stones) by Joolio Geordio

Joolio Geordio strikes what is now trademark if not somewhat cliched stone circling pose at The Pipers 7th September 2001.

Image credit: Moey

Articles

The Pipers (St Cleer)

Visited 16.4.14

Very easy to spot when visiting the stone circles.
When looking towards the Cheeswring they are to your left, near the track.
To my untrained eye they didn’t look ‘old’ but they do perfectly frame the Cheesewring.
Worth looking out for.

The Pipers (St Cleer)

Standing between The Pipers gives an impressive view of the Cheesewring – the hill is right in the centre of your field of vision. If these are indeed genuine antiquities, this must have been an important factor in their positioning.

The Pipers (St Cleer)

Access: See the Hurlers.

Saturday 6 March 2004
By the track SW of the Hurlers lie the Pipers, a pair of appreciable standing stones, clearly part of the same complex. Just as Craig Weatherhill says there is doubt of their antiquity, Aubrey Burl seems to accept it. Guess you pays yer money and takes yer choice. Worth a look anyway.

The Pipers (St Cleer)

The Pipers – 25.12.2002

The Pipers stand to the South West of the Hurlers, apparently a pair of outlying menhirs 3 metres apart, but Craig Weatherhill’s excellent book ‘Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly’ (Cornwall Books – 1985, revised 1997 & 2000) says there are doubts about their antiquity. Cornovia says they are 2 metres tall. I measured them both at 165cm. A line of more modern boundary marking stones pass close by to the Pipers.

Sites within 20km of The Pipers (St Cleer)