I do like to be beside the seaside.
I do like to be beside the seaside.
The holy well in its beautifully constructed chamber.
The entrance to Lower Boscaswell holy well.
The holy well about 200m south of the fogou.
There is a holy well a couple of hundred yards from the fogou at SW 3767 3470.
It’s been cleared of rubbish and vegetation in the last few years and is well worth a visit if you’re going to the fogou. Structurally it is very similar to Sancreed Holy Well.
This large broken slab is in the narrow band of trees immediately to the NW of the circle.
No Bodmin Moor circle seems complete without a triangular stone.
A bit more overgrown than in previous photos.
The northernmost stone I found, although I think there are more stones as the ground starts to rise towards Fox Tor.
The stones of the row are small and many have fallen, to be nearly buried under the surface.
Two of the few remaining uprights. Another can be seen just in front of the gorse bush in the middle distance.
Looking towards Fox Tor along the direction of the row from the SW terminal stone.
The terminal stone at the southwestern end of the row, looking towards Hendra Beacon and West Moor.
Looking southwest towards Goodaver stone circle.
Section of the bank in the foreground. The summit of Brown Willy, the highest hill in Cornwall, peaks over the trees, right of centre.
Looking northwest towards Hendra Beacon across the fine ring cairn.
Smaller kerb stones on the southeastern side of the cairn.
Kerbs on the southern side of the cairn.
The central mound with slab of possible cist exposed in the middle. Looking towards Kilmar Tor. There are many cairns on the intervening ground.
Looking south towards Smallacoombe Downs, possible fallen standing stone in the foreground.
The cairn from the ENE. Kerb stones can be seen on the left and in the foreground. The possible falle standing stone is on the right. Goodaver stone circle is at the left-hand end of the big block of forestry, far left skyline.
Midsummer stones, obligatory pointy one front and centre.
Looking southwest. Goodaver stone circle is where the small gap in the trees on the skyline is, just above the furthest stone on the left.
Looking west with Fox Tor beyond and a marsh in between.
The scooped out interior. There appears to be less loose stone in the centre than when Goffik visited, but the slab which may be part of a cist or chamber is still there in situ.
Looking northwest. From this position Hendra Beacon is aligned neatly in front of Brown Willy (skyline right of centre).
Looking southwest. Ridge rises on the left. Goodaver stone circle is immediately to the right of the gap in the trees on the skyline, far right.
This is a fine monument in a great location, for all the damage to its centre.
Clitters Cairn viewed from the neighbouring cairn up on Ridge.
The upright stone in the cairn, once reported as a standing stone but more obviously a gatepost from the conversion to a shelter. There is a suggestion that the drystone courses could be part of the original construction though, which if so would be similar to other large Cornish cairns like Ballowall.
The south side of the cairn. Brown Willy can be seen in the distance, far left skyline, with the hills of West Moor (including Hendra Beacon and Bray Down) providing the rest of the backdrop. Nine Stones circle is down in the valley below and is visible from the cairn.
Gurnard’s Head from The Carracks to the east.
It is a very common notion amongst the peasantry, that a just retribution overtakes those who wilfully destroy monuments, such as stone circles, crosses, wells, and the like. Mr Blight writes me – “While at Boscaswell, in St Just, a few weeks since, an old man told me that a person who altered an old Holy Well there, was drowned the next day in sight of his house, and that a person who carried away the stones of an ancient chapel, had his house burned down that very night.” We hope that the certainty of punishment will prevent any further spoilation.
From Popular Romances of the West of England, second series, collected and edited by Robert Hunt.
New 3D exploration app for Maes Howe from Historic Scotland.
Little is known about the Iron Age fort, with mysteries and theories around when it was built and why it was built on the low land rather than, as the name suggests, on a hill.
The two-week excavation dig, which is being led by archaeologists DigVentures and A Forgotten Landscape, a South Gloucestershire Council-funded landscape partnership, is hoping to turn back the hands of time to find out more about the purpose of the hillfort.