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Easily found on the left beside the track to the farm shortly after leaving the wall on the right. The cairn itself is in a ruinous state but the lovely little cist sits snuggled under a low earth bank.
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In theory Twelve Men's Moor covers a large area to the north of Minions from Sharp Tor to Hawk's Tor. Its name supposedly came about when the land, owned by the Priory of Launceston, was divided up between 12 tenants in 1284. As several sites in this large area are already posted then I will use this site to feature those that lie to the north of Kilmar Tor and south of Trewortha and Hawk's Tor.
The easiest way to reach this area is by taking the minor road off the B3254 at Berriobridge.
Be careful on this minor raod as there are several large humps.
A parking space can be found at the top of the road where a gate leads onto the track to Trewortha farm.
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The most northerly of the interesting features on the hill, the summit cairn is a jumbled assortment of rocks with one stone standing proud.
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I was shown this circle a month or so ago whilst on a walk with the Cornish Archealogical Society. At the time there were too many people milling about to get a good photo so another trip out onto the moor was called for. It has only been 'discovered' in the last year or so when archeologists returning from Leskernick decided to take a different route.
In all there are seven stones still in place, all recumbent, making up perhaps a third of the circle.
It takes a little bit of finding but is easiest reached from Westmoorgate (take the road from Trewint on A30). Go through gate onto moor and cross ford. Head north climbing slightly keeping the wall on your right. There are stones all over the place just to make life difficult and several 'standing' ones on the crest of the hill..this is not the circle. You will find it before you reach the crest near some earthworks that are almost certain to be the result of mineral prospecting.
This part of the moor is quite featurless...do not venture out onto it if cloud is low or it is misty.
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Reached by a road running northwest from the beacon and then taking a path across a field on the left. Keep to hedge to far end and go over stile...the fort is infront of you.
A large ditch and banks seperates field from a flat area that then drops away into the valley. This is an unusual site and thought to be Iron Age in date. It is in a great setting and would be easy to protect from all sides.
Superb views out to sea.
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What a stonker!
Easily found if you have an OS map and only about half a mile from Veryan village if you walk. Who knows what uses this barrow has had over the years..I would guess the concrete slab on the top was a lookout post as the views are superb...even on a windy day in March.
Rabbits are busy colonising the barrow and I had a good look around to see if any of the Golden Ship had been dug out by them...
The nearby Ringarounds are worth a visit if you have time...if just for the strange design of the 'fort' and the view.
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Two cairns sit on this little visited stretch of Moorland that covers the high ground to the west of the Fowey River. Both have been dug into and now resemble overgrown mounds, the southern most one being covered in Gorse bushes.
I would not recommend making a special trip to see these..not with so much else to see on the moor.
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can not find any evidence to support the fact that this is a cairn but...sitting on the eastern slope of Tolborough Tor is what looks like a natural rock formation. I only went over to it because I had seen a fox emerge from within it. Standing on top I noticed three stones running around the back of it that looked like ones I have seen at other cairns. (see photo)
Seeing that the cairn on top of the tor is built into a natural feature this could possibly be the same..but smaller.
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Tolborough Tor sits high overlooking the A30 and Jamaica Inn. Bit of a climb from the road (see my directions for Tolborough Menhir) but the views north to Brown Willy are superb.
It is a cairn built into the natural rock of the tor and it is difficult to make out what is natural and what is man-made. Simmerly I can not decide if the cairn was at one time much higher or if it just had a covering. A 'ramp' enters the central plateau from the south east and then you have the large flat slabs sitting on the surface, were they originally covered? and was the ramp the entrance Sabine Gould talked about in his novel ?(see Rhiannons Folklore posting).
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Catshole Tor is one of those bits of Bodmin Moor that very few people visit...which is a shame. The hillside is littered with rocks and the views cross to Brown Willy are superb.
I had not expected to find anything man made up there so was only snapping pictures of the landscape. However when I got home and started reading up on Tolborough Tor I came across a piece in 'Romance of the Stones' talking about a chambered tomb on Catshole Tor.
Looking through the photos I realised I had taken several shots of it whilst trying to get some foreground into my Brown Willy photos.
Looks like I will have to go back up there and take a closer look...
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Described by EH as a bowl barrow, I though it was just a barrow that had been dug into. It measures about 35 metres across at its widest but is not that high. Although it now has a hedge behind it and a row of trees a little down slope of it I would guess that when it was built it had a commanding view down the valley to the Truro River.
Access is by a footpath from St Clement village or from Malpas village (where there is a very nice pub).
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Easy to spot in a field beside the road from jamaica Inn to Codda. Parking is a bit of a problem if you want to be away from the car for a while and I would advise either driving along to the end of the road or parking on the side of the road when it turns to Bolventor Church.
Field is open access so no problems there and you can carry on up onto top of tor from stone.
Stone is about 7ft high and it has been suggested that it is a modern erection...looks pukka to me!
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Those who venture west of the Hurlers will come across these two cairns over near the small engine house known as Silver Valley. From here it is a pleasant walk towards the Craddock Moor sites.
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One of the most featurless hills on Bodmin Moor, best known for its man made tin streaming remains that encircle it. It is a large rounded lump to the east of Roughtor and Brown Willy best approached from the ford at Bowithick.
I last ventured on to its barren slopes about 20 years ago and my memory was of feeling quite disorientated by the lack of landmarks.
Today, 12 Aug 07, there is a good clear sky and plenty of daylight to let me explore the hill further.
I start up by climbing a gully to where I remember there being some mining remains, these are easily found and I continue on towards the summit, not sure exactly where it is.
I pass what could be a stone row but is more likely to be an ancient field boundry and suddenly Roughtor and Showery Tor can be seen away to the west. Brown Willy appears soon after.
On reaching a highpoint I turn left and make for the summit. Two low cairns can be seen, looking like any other robbed out cornish cairns but as I get closer I can see that the nearest has a stone standing inside it. This cairn is about 12 ft across with the central stone about 3ft high. From this cairn it is a short walk to the larger cairn that crowns the summit. Even from this close all I expect to find is a low pile of stones, all be it larger than the last cairn.
How wrong could I be! The low bank of the cairn, about 30 to 35ft across, surrounds a cist with all four walls intact and the capstone perched over it. The cist is about 6ft long and 3 ft wide with a solid granite floor. How come I have not read about it before? This is one of the best preserved cists I have found on the moor. Part of me starts to think it has been built in later times to fool people like me but....
The OS map marks five cairns on the hilltop, I can only find another two, one of which is just a platform of stones adjecent to the summit cairn. The other sits a little distance downslope to the SE.
From the summit my journey took me down to the source of the River Fowey, which once gave its name to the moor. It is a quiet place, rarely visited by man, and yet his handywork is all around in the form of tin streaming channels, something started on the moor by bronze age man. Somewhere in the area there is a stone row, but today I fail to find it. perhaps next time.....
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This collection of stones, three standing and one lying across another is not noted on maps and I can find no references to it in any books. The uprights form a semi circle around the other stone which lies atop of another. Other stones may at one time have compleated the circle but are now fallen or lost. The setting lies in an area of the moor that has been heavily robbed of stone over the years and is only a short distance from a low lying quarried outcrop. Goldiggins Quarry is just to the NE, a good point to make for if trying to find this site.
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St Agnes Beacon is a landmark for anybody driving down the A30 towards the END. Surprisingly for such a large and conspicuous hill the barrows/cairns on the summit are just the opposite. My feelings are they have been robbed not only of any remains but also of stone over the years. What is left are a few scattered mounds, and even these can be mistaken for mining remains and vice versa. The hill is great for views..but don't make a special trip for the archaeology.
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To find this stone requires a bit of hedge hopping..and is on private land. Please make sure no fences are damaged as it allows sheep and cattle from the fields to get into Kilminorth Woods where they have caused great damage in the past.
This stone is mentioned in Paynes 'Romance of the Stones' as having been standing 5ft high when seen by OS inspectors in 1962. There is some thought that it might only have been a rubbing post...and who am I to say otherwise, but...
It sits (lies) on a north facing slope that drops steeply into the West Looe river valley. Woodland now hides the landscape and the view up river towards Bodmin Moor. Just behind it is an earth bank that I believe is part of the Giants Hedge or a Iron Age hillfort that was later turned into a rabbit warren. (viewing said hilltop from above the modern wall looks as if the field is circular, it isn't but if it went right out to the earth bank it might be)
Naturally shaped stones like this do not occur in the Looe area and rubbing stones tend to be made of granite, brought down from the moor.
The stone features on the EH list of sites (hence me seeking it out). A similar but smaller stone lies hidden in the woods just to the south.
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The name on the OS map suggests there should be something here....alas, I can find no written evidence of any quoit ever being here and nothing to suggest why the rock strewn hill top should have such a name.
Quarrying was done here in the mid 1800s and all around the area moorstone has been cut and taken. Was there a quiot here that had fallen and was carted off to build a nearby farm?
Despite these facts it is a great place to visit if you like atmospheric woodland and moss covered rocks.
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Some additional field notes....
It is possible to access the East Moor area (including Fox Tor and Nine Stones of Altarnun) from the A30 by turning off at Five Lanes and taking the lane to Halvana. After a while you will come to a small group of cottages with a track leading off to a gate on the left. Park here (making sure you are not blocking anybody) and go through the gate and head out onto the moor. Fox Tor towers over you to your left, the east Moor stones and cairns are ahead to the right.
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Sits in a field to the south of Boscastle / Tintagel. Easily reached by road with fantastic views out to sea or over to Bodmin Moor and beyond.
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Mr Hamhead started as a doodle on a scrap of paper many years ago.....then he became a submariner in a series of poems that I am writing. When I needed a name for this site he just sort of popped up.
In the real world I go under the far less interesting title of Mark Camp, keen walker, historian and tourist guide.
I am lucky enough to live in Cornwall, a mile from the south coast and within half an hours drive of Bodmin Moor. Hence the sites I have contributed.
My first love up on the moors (and Cornwall in general) is industrial history, but you are never far from a lump of granite and through research for walks I have become interested in all things ancient.
It has helped that I have been listening to Mr Cope since buying Reward as a young student and have followed his career from the far west where musicians seldom come to play.
As I have said before on the site, if any TMA contributors are in the area and fancy a walk on the moor, get in touch, I will be happy to share my knowledge of everything the moor has to offer.
oh yes ..my website is at http://www.walkaboutwest.co.uk
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