Mr Hamhead

I would possibly have walked straight past this stone, just taking it for another lump of granite. Ocifant had other ideas... and after a bit of examining we decided that it quite possibly was a fallen menhir.

Looking into the field there is what looks like three or four more stones lying in a row going south... towards the Leaze stone circle. A good Bodmin Moor wind, barbed wire... and Ocifants fear of long horned tatty cattle meant we did not explore further.

If the row does run towards the circle it is the first of its kind on Bodmin Moor, although many of the Dartmoor rows end in a circle or a cairn. There might even be a cairn at the northern end (a mound beside the fallen stone is about the right size and is made up of rocks).

Another visit on a sunny day is needed I think.

To access Castle Dore you will have to park in a layby on the Fowey side of the hillfort and walk back along the road. This is not for the faint hearted... beware of traffic.

On entering the gate the Castle Dore tablet stands nearby giving the usual outdated text...mainly about King Mark and all things Arthurian. It has been thought since the 1930’s that the fort was occuipied on and off since the Iron Age and that the large oblong building that wassupposed to have stood inside the centre of the fort was King Marks hall dating from the 6th Century.

Recent work suggests otherwise...that the fort was only occupied in the Iron Age/Romano British era and that King Marks Hall was actually at Castle a few miles north of Dore.

In 1977 aerial photos showed a round feature to the sw of the hillfort. It has been suggested that this was a henge and that the Tristan Stone was originally from the henge.

The hillfort itself gives spectaculer views out over Cornwall but sadly is becoming a bit of a mess. Cattle are roaming free up and over the embankments and along the ditch and bushes are being allowed to grow on the banks.

Oh....and I can see my house if I look east on a clear day...

Set slightly higher up the hill from the stone rows, this is the biggest upright on the downs. The higher upright (of the group of three) can be seen on the ridge to the SE.

The reason why it is hard to find the settings on the downs is partly because of the gorse bushes. Although they do not cover the area they do have a habit of hiding things when looking from one point to another.

The stone row is split into two sections. Both lie on the northern side of the downs and are not easy to find. None of the stones are more than about a foot high. The western row has I think 7 or 8 stones then there is a bog gap to the eastern row which has about the same number. At the far eastern end of the eastern row is a stone about three foot long but now lying in the grass. A grass covered mound beside it is possibly a buried stone..there ia definatly something hard beneath the grass.

This low outcrop lies just off the B3212, about 2 miles outside Princetown. It is supposed to have a logan Stone amongst its piles but I found nothing that would rock. It is also an easy way to access the stone row below Hart Tor.

This huge rock sits on the southern slope of Combshead Tor and is a popular place for walkers to the area. It is I would guess 15 ft high on the shortest side.
Just to the north of it is a wonderful walled settlement featuring about a dozen hut circles in reasonable condition and beyond them it is a short walk to Down Tor stone row.
The rock is easily reached up the Deancombe from Burrator Reservoir.

A local tells me that the sun rises in line with this row at Midsummer...It is not facing due NE but taking in to account the dip in the hills to the east he may be right. The row dips in the centre as it crosses the hillside rising to the cairn (Stone Circle) at the western end. I did not get to look at the cairn as it was full of French people standing bolt upright pretending to be stones...

I actually aproached this circle from the north, having followed the stone row from where it crosses the Erme River. A REAL adventure!

The “easy” way would be to come up the track from the hamlet of Torr near Cornwood, and then head out over the open moor, this is still not easy or a short walk.

Is it worth it? My photos may not do the circle justice...it was a very overcast day with the mist dropping down one minute and the next lifting. The whole Erme valley is full of antiquities...I think I past four stone rows and missed about four others on a eight mile walk, not including all the cairns and settlements, pounds, cists, and the odd standing stone...

Of the circle itself, there are 23 of the original 26 stones still standing, none taller than about three foot. It is a wild area....lots of soggy ground all around, even on top of the hill. Not a place to go if you are not sure of your map reading skills...but if you are, well worth it, the landscape is stunning.

Small cist found to the south of King Arthurs Hall. Burial chamber is surrounded by several stones in an area where quite a lot of stones lie at random on the open moorland.

King Arthurs Hall can be clearly seen on the ridge to the north.....but which came first?

17 May 2005

Visited this time from the road to the south...passing by the leaze cist on the way. Despite the wet spring that we have had, the hall is reasonably dry. Myself and Karen, a friend from Canada, decided to walk out into the centre of the hall. At one point I stuck my trusty stick down into the ground. After it had gone in about 4 feet I decided to pull it out...Karen stuck hers...then tried to pull it out. It broke and now remains sticking out of the “bog” like excaliber!

Has anybody ever put forward the idea that this could have been a pool?...the high banks and stones used to keep the animals out.

The hill takes its name from the two large cairns that sit atop the summit. Both have been much altered by travellers seeking shelter over the years...and I for one was welcome of the little circular shelter on what was a sunny but cold day.

The views up here are superb, looking down to the Cornish coast (and home) to the south west whilst to the east the barrenness of Dartmoor is there for all to see.

This is just one great area of rocks...at one time placed by man but now scattered at random. To my untrained eye there is very little that can be made out but i am sure the experts know every hut circle, burial cairn etc on this hillside. It is while walking uphill amongst the rocks that you first gain sight of the Drizzel Combe complex....i wonder if the two sites are connected?

At the top end of the settlement there is a rectanguler “table” of rocks a good 20 ft long and about 2 to 3 feet high. What it is I know not, but at least it is still there...

My first site on a walk that would take me to many other historic remains this sunny May day. The circle is small...and too perfect for my liking! Something in my head tells me that this originated as a simple cairn but when the restorers got here they decided to create a stone circle (or 4). I missed the stone row but as i was to see later that would tie in with the cairn thoughts.

It is a nice spot (although the aroma from the recently spread field nearby was a bit off putting) with Sheeps Tor towering over it from the west. To think I sat up there on countless occasions back in the late 80s and never even noticed this site....

They say the devil has all the best tunes...Iron Age man had all the best forts

Although little remains on Kenidjack headland except three banks on either side of the narrow istmus it is easy to see how this place could easily be defended. Two ridges of rock run along its crest and according to Robin Payne in “The Romance of the Stones” it may have been used in the Bronze Age as a natural defence.

The area all around is heavily mined and tin streaming would have been going on in the valley below to the west since those far off days.

Forget Lands End...come here to experience the end of the world!

Oh...and if you come in the spring you may get to see the peregrins.

Mentioned in “The Romance of the Stones” as a possible menhir it was erected in 1980 when the road was being improved. Not easily missed! it sits beside the road not far from Chun Quoit. Is it or isn’t it? was it or wasn’t it?

Does it matter....how do we know every other stone is original, many of the stone circles in Cornwall were reerected in the late 1800’s early 1900’s and not allways using the original stones.

Came up Saturday morning hoping to walk to the quoit....thick mist covered the hillside and Kathy decided she was not going out in it...So we drove back down the hill to Botalack and had a stunning walk along the cliffs in wonderful sunshine.
Sunday morning (21st march 2005)and the mist had lifted and we walked up from the Trewallah turning accross freshly burnt scrub. It is great to see all the old field boundrys exposed and i kept me eyes to the ground in the hope of finding something interesting....
The quoit sits in all its glory surrounded by sunshine...I am always a little unsure about entering these ancient places but in the end I squeezed my self into the quoit just because I could (and that was after a full breakfast!)

Walked over to the castle afterwards then back down to the car, Kenedjack was hooting at me but time was against me....perhaps another day?

Found during the “dig” of 2003 by geophisical survey. This round house is 8 meters across and contained a large broken pottery vessel dating from 1400-1000BC.

Not going to go into too much detail as these are hopefully temp notes whilst Ed tries to find the original site.

There are several ways of finding the circle but i think (after using different routes) that the easiest way is to drive up the moorland road signposted Bastreet just north of North Hill. The road climbs up through woodland, goes over a cattle grid and levels out just past a farm. Here you can park on the side of the road. Make for a small stone cross on the moorland to your right and carry on up the hill marked Ridge on maps.

Once on the ridge (large tumuli to the east) descend onto East Moor. The stone circle should come into sight between yourself and Fox Tor.

This route is reasonably easy and avoids the marshy ground that lies between the circle and Fox Tor.

The stones themselves are nearly all sitting in pools of water, caused by countless animals using them as rubbing posts.

Carey Tor is one of the lesser known of Bodmin Moors tors. It is not that high, not on a main walking route and generally forgotten by one and all. OK, I admit, I had no knowledge of it until last Sunday (6 March 2005) and I claim to know the moor!
Anyway, I “discovered” it at the end of a cold days walking and only had a brief look around. I was on my second battery in the digital camera...and that was running low...and the sun was setting in the west and I still had a good walk back to the car.

So, what is there to see? Great natural rock basins, two of the stones on their sides which tells me that they fell before the last Ice Age washed away all the soil from beneath them. I found one hut circle but the OS map shows more, and some cairns.

The site is not far from Nine Stones circle and all the other ritual sites dotted around East Moor and Fox Tor.

Lying at the end of the footpath from Tresellern Farm, I was unsure if this was a manhir or not. It does have one hole drilled about half way up on one face so may have been used as a gate post at some time.
However the fact that the wall has been built to go round it as opposed to being incorperated makes me think the people who built the wall had a little bit of superstition amongst them.
I got home and checked the listings for North Hill parish and found the stone is listed as a menhir under the name Colquite.
Colquite does not feature on the maps but I can well believe that at some time there was a settlement of some sort here in the middle ages.
There are a couple of barrows in a field just to the south but I did not try to visit them due to the fact that the field had about 8 dead sheep in it in varying states of decay....Nice!

Did not get to the medieval settlement as the ford was to deep to wade through. However did visit two cairns perched on the edge of the hillside to the north. Both are about 12 ft in diameter and have been dug into by way of a deep trench. They also have a good covering of grass and gorse.
This is a lonely part of Bodmin Moor which I doubt gets many visitors. To the north of the two cairns is a featurless area stretching away until it reaches forestry and the A30, no landmarks just flattish moorland. To the southeast the mighty ridges of Twelve Mans moor dominate. I shall return when the ford is lower.

A long east west running ridge strewn with granite boulders. Many balance on top of each other at wonderful angles. At the west end of the ridge and set apart from most of the stones is a clump of stones that include King Arthur’s Bed.

To reach the tor take the road from Berriowbridge up as far as the moor gate. Park here and walk along the track passing Hawks Tor on your right. Access from the track is restricted due to razor wire. This has been erected to stop people breaking down the walls/fences. To reach hawks Tor it is necessary to retrace your steps back down the road to a gate and public footpath sign on the left. Go through this and follow the footpath until access signs point you in the direction of the tor.

Trewortha Tor can then be reached once the fields surrounding Hawk’s Tor are passed. King Arthur’s Bed is on private land and access is subject to certain restrictions which from the end of August 2005 can viewed on www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk or in person at Trewortha Farm

16th Jan 2005

Can confirm Rhianon’s news that they are working to reclaim Uley Bury from nature. They’re making a bit of a mess of it but I am sure things will improve.

Great views down to the Severn and across into Wales, so this would have been an easy place to defend. The walk around the fort is about a mile in length, most of it being in the ditch, apart from the far west end.

16 Jan 2005

I find myself far from home and looking for somewhere to walk after a late night the night before. A book I have gives details of a walk from Uley to the hillfort then onto the Tump and then via another village back to Uley.

We set off up the steep escarpment behind the church reaching the eastern end of the fort (Uley Bury), the walk around is nearly a mile but well worth it, the views are amazing. Reaching the far end of the fort we joined the Cotswold Way and followed it until it reached the road beyond the tump (no scrambling up the bank for us). Turning back on ourselves we walked along the road (there is a good grass verge).

At the tump we missed a troop of ramblers by about three minutes... phew! I have come prepared, torch, waterproofs... it looks like it could be a long wet crawl in. Imagine my surprise after getting all dressed up for a trogloditic exploration that once under the large stone at the entrance you can virtually stand up and everything is nice and dry.

Kathy, my better half and not one for dissapearing into holes even sticks her head under and comes into the inner sanctum. There we sit eating oranges (yes we took the skins with us) and marvelling at the workmanship.

What I can’t figure out is why is the tump so large and yet the chambers only go in about 20ft? Must ask on the forum.

We opted not to continue the walk as it said in the book but headed back along the road to Uley. Not quite so easy between the tump and the hillfort we opted to retrace our steps around the hillfort rather than follow the raod back into the village. The pub in the village brews its own beer, didn’t try it, still recovering from night before.

10.45pm 11th Jan 2005

Returning back across the moors from a meeting at Jamaica Inn, as I rounded the corner before reaching the turn off to the pool, a large barn owl swooped down and flew along in the in front of the car. it then turned to the left and dissapeared over towards the pool.

I just had to stop the car and get out. All around was black, a faint crescent of moon shining through thin cloud, the only sound that of the wind blowing across the bleak moor. The owl had gone, somewhere to my left sat the pool but it was too dark to make out anything.

As I went to get back into the car I heard a hoot from somewhere in the darkness....

Boxing Day 2004

Fantastic day for walking, not a cloud in the sky. The line of barrows stood out as we climbed the hill from Nine Barrows Lane their numbers increasing as you ascend the hill. At the top end there is what looks like a dug into barrow until you get close and realise it is just the earth that has been thrown out of a long ditch. I would guess this to have been created by miners looking for traces of lead (there is a large lead mine to the east in the valley)
As for the ditch the other side of the barrows, I am not sure. A gap has been left to allow the route of the path from the Priddy Circles to the Nine Barrows to pass and in my expierience it is unususal for miners to dig one long even trench.

I have never come across so many barrows in a small area, this must have been an impotrtant site. With the four henges so close by as well, I can see I will have to do a bit of studying.

Boxing Day 2004

In order to work off the festive feast decided to drag the outlaws up to Priddy for a walk. Didn’t mention my reasons for choosing the area...
Walked up through the barrows that fill the area to the road beside the henges.
Stood on the gate and looked into the field containing them but could not make out where they were. Didn’t enter as there were horses in the field and one of my fellow walkers said that the land was owned by the local hunt kennels, not the sort of people who welcome trespassers! even during the festive period.

Although I have put this site in under cairns it is more than that...but I was not sure if sacred hill was quite the right description.

3 Dec 2004

Bray Down is the most northerly hill of Bodmin Moor, and I must admit I had never explored it until this week. Not that it is hard to reach or access, just that it had never looked that interesting. As it is I had noticed that there was a settlement marked on the OS map at SX191826, just above the road that runs from Altarnon to Davidstow Moor. Being in the area I decided to drive up and have a look.

I parked the car at Bowithick where the river is forded and a track goes off onto the wild moor below Buttern Hill. From here it is a plesant walk along the very quiet road back to where the settlement should be. After a while a muddy track heads off up the hill at a slight angle and I decided to follow this for a while before cutting back to the settlement.

That was the plan....

Then i noticed an abandoned farmstead ahead and went to have a nose....nothing ancient, well perhaps mid 1800s but still got me interested. After exploring the four cottages and adjecent barn I headed uphill to the summit. The views over the wild northern moor were superb, it is a very lonely empty place up here, no signs of habitation at all, no signs of roads, very few “landmarks” just rolling moorland.

But just to remind you that you are on Bodmin Moor the twin hills of Brown Willy and Roughtor stand proud to the west...and this afternoon they are silhoetted by the sinking sun.

On the summit of Bray Down are two cairns, one has been vritually destroyed and a trig point sat in the centre of it whilst the western one has been dug into but is still a mound. This could be something to do with the fact that it seems to be, like Showery Tor, a cairn built not over a burial site but around a natural feature. Two sides of the cairn have been dug into but only as far as the natural rocks. On the northern side three uprights remain on the edge of the cairn.

With the sun sinking I open the flask and pour a coffee, put on my coat and wait...the sun turns the rocks around me orange (and possibly me as well) before it dissapears behind clouds coming up from the west. It is time to move on..

I descend back down the hill to the car, the light fading with every step. As I reach the car I remmember that i was going to look for the settlement...oh well, goood excuse to come back.

I can’t believe it is three years since I was last up here, and it’s still bloody cold! Stannon circle is in danger of being hidden by the grass. When I last visited it was being grazed by a flock of sheep that watched over me like hawks.

It is fast approaching dusk as I drive up to the circle and I must admit I drove right up the track to get as close as possible. Good job too, as my battery in my camera chose to go flat after about three shots!

After running back to the car and changing batterys, and having a sip of coffee, I venture out again into the biting wind. No sheep, no people... a dozen or so ponies cross the horizon to the south east and a flock of stirlings head towards Roughtor... and me. The sky starts to turn pink as the sun drops behind the cloudbank building in the west... will I get a sunset?

No! I decide that it is not worth the wait and head back to the car and the coffee. As I am about to leave a people carrier turns up and family and dog fall out... I leave the circle and the fading light to them.

As I drive home a huge moon rises over the moor... if only I had remembered...

Just had this reply from Steve Hartgroves, Principal Archaeologist

Cornwall Historic Environment Information Team

“The circular feature on the map has been surveyed and examined by the OS archaeological surveyors; they were unable to come up with a convincing interpretation.

The SMR says this:

PRN 1782: A roughly circular enclosure lying at the bottom of a gentle SE slope immediately above an area of marsh was located and surveyed by the OS in 1973 and surveyed from the air and on the ground by the RCHM in the 1980s. The enclosure measures 35m in diameter overall and consists of a turf bank up to 12.0m wide, and nowhere more than 0.7m high with a few exposed stones. There is a depression in the centre, but no trace of an entrance, and no sign of any round houses in the interior. In 1973 the OS recorded that its origin and purpose were ‘obscure’, but added that it may possibly be a small round. In 1984 Quinnell’s view was that it was not a small round as previously suggested, but possibly a natural feature. This seems unlikely however; excavation may be needed to properly identify the function and date of the feature.

I don’t suppose this is much help...it isn’t likely to be a round in this location; could it be some kind of animal pound?”

I am not convinced, it aint natural that much I know!

watch this space

Found this whilst out walking last week. Not totally convinced that it isn’t a rubbing post but...

It is a large stone for a rubbing post, about 4ft high and around 2 ft wide.

It lines up nicely with Brown Willy.

Why erect a rubbing post when ther are walls, trees and barns nearby.

It is natural in shape, ie has not been cut by man.

To look for yourself take the footpath from the east end of Davidstow Airfield, very muddy at Oldpark end. Once past the barns at Oldpark turn right down wide track, the stone is in the field on the right.

This can be found by taking a lane running north of the village of St Neot towards Colliford lake. When the road turns into a muddy track, the mound, as it is marked on maps, is just inside a gate on the right.

In Robin Payne’s Romance of the Stones it is called the Penkestle Menhirs and is described as a multi phase cairn, the standing stones being added at a later date.

The mound does lie on private ground, but a quick hop over the gate isnt gonna upset anybody.

Letter Moor is a small area of open moorland just to the south of Colliford Reservoir and north of St Neot. On the OS map a couple of cairns are marked plus a tumulus just to the south in a field. Slap bang in the middle there is marked on the recent OS Explorer maps a dotted circle, i was curious as to what this was so took a walk.

The whole area is made up of very gently slopeing moorland with gorse bushes here and there. There are a few lumps of granite poking up through the soil, I did line up five with a large stone at the southern end but decided I was imagining things...

I wandered around trying to see what the round object on the map could be, there was no obvious feature. Then I turned round to look at where I had come from and spotted it.

Lying on the gentle hillside and facing south east was a low earth circle with a depression in the middle. The circle was about 75ft across from bank to bank. There was no sign of stone in the low banks and the centre was very smooth all round.

I have no idea at the moment what this feature is but will look into it. It may be a cairn or tumulus but there is no sign of the earth or rock that must have made up the inside.

One other inteeresting feature is the fact that looking east from here I believe the sun would rise over Brown Gelly on Midsummer day whilst all the other high points of the eastern moor are equal distance in a row moving south

A footpath runs right beside this impressive hill fort on the south west edge of Bodmin Moor. The views are fantastic and the fort itself is in good condition despite cattle roaming all over it and large badger setts nearby.

At the east end of Holywell Bay and below Kelsey Head can be found the Holywell that gives the area its name. Only reachable at low tide, the well or wells are found inside a large cave that can not be seen from the main part of the beach.

Many pools have been formed by natural build up of minerals more in common with the mendip cave systems.

How and when they got the name holy well I am not sure but as with many of the other wells in Cornwall there origins are pre Christian.

I great place to escape from the excesses of Newquay or Perranporth.

Oct 2nd 2004

Windy but sunny, I sit on the northern edge of Berry Castle and have a snack. Great views of most of Bodmin Moor.
This site is hard to interpret, very overgrown, square? in shape with loads of rocks lying around all over the place inside it. At one point I think I found a hut circle but....

I don’t seem to be able to find any literature that agrees on a date for the place...anything from neolithic to iron age.

Hidden from the road by trees and the fact that the menhir its self is covered in moss.
It’s a big one!
You will need an OS map to find it, take the road that leads up towards the China Clay workings north of St Neot. When you get to the right hand turning to Northwood Farm stop and go over the gate opposit. The menhir is built into the hedge on your right.
Why is it here?
Only other sites in the area are a cairn on Mutton Down and Berry castle. There seems to be an argument as to how old Berry castle is, Iron age or earlier?
Off the usual route but I am glad I visited.

To be honest I wasn’t looking for a stone row...I was just out for a walk after visiting the remains of the nearby clay works.
And I was lost....well not exactly, but I had given up on finding the footpath and was just heading west into the sun hoping to find a wall somewhere....
Next thing I know there is this hugh great stone leaning at some precarious angle in front of me. Could this be the stone row that should be further to the north?
Well, yes it was and although the gorse bushes prevent you from seeing no more than three stones at a time I managed to find the northern stone quite easily.
Compared with the other rows I have visited on Bodmin Moor this one is made up of giant stones. The southern one I would reckon to have been about 6ft high when upright. Compare it with Craddock Moor where they struggle to be seen above the grass.
Also this one is built where it would be seen, on a ridge with views to the east and west. The view this evening to the west was of the shining waters off of Padstow, fantastic.
After deciding I had found both ends of the row I march off towards St Bellarmins Tor. On the way I came across another standing stone, it is not marked on maps and I could not work out if it was in line with the row but....as my picture shows it has lovely views of Brown Willy, Roughtor and in the middle Hawks Tor with the Stipple Stones on its southern edge.

This whole area to the east of Colvannick Stone Row is littered with small barrows. It is also a Danger Area due to the firing range to the south. Because of this it is not well visited and even though there are several footpaths crossing the area none are signposted and navigation is not easy.
On the east facing side of Great Care Hill can be found a couple of hut circles hidden amongst the gorse.

The shortest of the Bodmin Moor stone rows at just under 60M in length. It can be found by taking a footpath from Dryworks on the road from Bolventor to Golitha Falls. Descend down into the Fowey valley and cross a bridge at a lovely spot. Climbing up the other side, once in the second field wait until the northern end on the Fir plantation comes into line. Then head upwards and you should find the north end of the row.
None of the stones are very high.

I can find no record of these two stones, either as prehistoric or later. At first i though they could be a entrance to something but they are only just inside an old field wall and although there are stones littered between them there are known either side.

Not on a well use footpath, I don’t suppose anyone else will be heading this way...but you never know.

From the northern circle I lined up my map and walked off in a southeasterly direction. On the map a small pond is shown near the row and noticing the bumps in the ground I reckoned on where I might find it.

I must admit I took the cairn for a waste tip from the early mining in the area. I am still not sure if the three larger stones lying on the ground are part of the row or if it starts with the first upright.

I will let you decide.

I must admit I did not walk the whole length of the row, only as far as the workings.

My fieldnotes from 2 years ago said “try again when weather is better”
Could not have asked for a better day! the sun shone down, there was a nice breeze..and I had the place to myself.
The circle is easily seen from Leskernick Hill on a good day and not far from the footpath just south of it.

I actually found this by walking up from the farmhouse and studying the map very hard.....needless to say i found several other “circles” on my way.

It does not look like a circle and it was only on using the TMA and the Bodmin Moor survey book that I recognised it.

7 August 2004

Whilst hordes of holiday makers pour into Cornwall and spread themselves all over the beaches I head for the hills. This is my second visit to Leskernick...and this time I know what i’m looking for.

I approach from Bolventor by taking the road to Codda and then following the footpath out onto the moor. As you go through the gate and out onto the hillside it is best to carry on straight ahead contouring around to Leskernick Farmhouse.
From there head up into the settlement, I wonder how many people lived up here?. The “quoit” is on the western side of the hill and after visiting that head back over the top and look down upon the settlement.
From here it is possible on a good day to spot both the stone circles and a path down through the huts leads to the northern one.
Once you have found this the stone row lies diagonally to the left towards the humps and bumps of early mining work.
The other stone circle lies just upslope to the right of the western end of the row.
The low squareish humps you will come across all over the hillside are peat stack bases known as steeds or ricks. I have never seen so many in a small area anywhere else on the moor.

Is it or isn’t it?

On a hillside littered with stones we have to take the experts view and say it is.

The “quoit” is to be found on the upper west part of Leskernick Hill, slightly away from the main settlement remains.

Although Leskernick is a bit of a hike to get to it is worth it, space, peace and just so much history.

The OS map claims there to be a fort here, all that I could see was a low ridge and shallow ditch. Kathy, my partner thought the stone looked like a camels head.
On the low hill behind is a cairn which has been hollowed out.

July 2004
The maize in Ocifants photo has now grown to about 3 ft high compleatly obscuring the cairn. It will be a couple of months before it can be accessed i would think.

Aug 2006

Two years later I try again to reach the cairn. A thick mist has covered West Penwith and it is only my memory of my last trip that leads me to the cairn. Luckily the field is only planted with grass so it is an easy walk through the dew soaked grass to the cairn.

As can be seen from my photos it was a big dissapointment..I wonder what firm evidence there is that this was once a cairn?

I didn’t actually bother to visit this, but walked past it heading for the Nine Stones. It was only later on that i realised what a prominant position it occupies in the landscape. It might be because of the blackthorn growing out of it but...wherever I happened to be all day in the area I could see the cairn. Not only that but I knew if I needed to retrace my steps i only had to head for it to find my way back to where I had left the car.
Apparently it was excavated in the mid 1980’s.

This is a sod to find!
Down on the edge of the grassy area, north of the ring cairn and the blocking stone sits this archaeological mystery. It is supposed to be the shape of a D but I only found the curved bit. There are supposed to be 42 visible stones but none of them are more than 10 cm high! The Cornwall Archaeological Unit claim it to be a ritual enclosure..or at least they did in 1994.