Mr Hamhead
Blocking Stone, western end (new photo taken 6th march 05)
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.
Just to the SW of the ring cairn sits a traditional cairn with a mound in the middle. The long granite stone that lies on the north side has been suggested as a possible menhir that along with other similar stones once surounded the cairn.
This large cairn sits atop of the low hill at the western end of the East Moor stone row. It is about 60 ft in diameter and lovely and flat in the middle with a surounding low ring of stones covered in grass for much of the time.
This is the first cairn of its type I have come across, were they used for burials or just for ritual? answers on a postcard please.
I agree with Pure Joy...finding the stone row from Fox Tor would be nigh on impossible. From this end find what the experts call the blocking stone (see photos) and then head down hill slightly to the right of a line towards Fox Tor summit. After a while you will find the first upright stone...and then another...
By walking in roughly a straight line you will find several more stones, some flat on the ground, some leaning at severe angles, very ocasionally an upright. As you climb the hill towards Fox Tor they become harder to find, you lose sight of the ones behind and eventually end up amongst the clitter of the tor itself.
I wonder...does the row line up with Brown Gelly and the northern end of Dartmoor. I was too busy trying to find the next stone to take much notice...also by the time you get to one end you have lost sight of the other.
For Fox Tor stone row see East Moor stone row....
Fox Tor itself is a jumble of rocks and the chances of finding anything amongst them has to be left to the experts. I thought I had found one of the hut circles but then changed my mind....
A modern cairn has been constructed on the top of the tor along side the old trig point. Nice painted stone inset in it.
Good views to the south towards Trewartha Tor, Hawks Tor and Kilmar Tor.
I can not find any reference to this stone, and it is definately not the Tregune Menhir which stands in the middle of a field nearby. This one stands beside the road leading from Tregrenna to Tregune. It is about 5 ft high and has three sides. There are no signs of it being shaped by man and no holes where it may have been used as a gate post. The fact that it stands beside a track that leads onto open moor and important sites like the East Moor stone row makes me think it is not just another rubbing post.
One of the many cleared circles in the northern enclosure. CAU believe them to be where tents could be pitched in summer months.
Looking south across the northern enclosure towards the older wall.
This entrance into the pound can be found on the western side north of the Cheesewring.
Looking along the wall of the older part of Stowes Pound. The large slab at the far end is covered in small holes drilled by miners during the 1800’s. It is known as the Merry making stone as the miners would let off small explosive charges in the holes on special occasions.
The remains of the 3 tier barrow found in the north east part of Stowes Pound.
A meeting was held on June 8th to talk about the launch of a Heritage Landscape grant application for the above area. This will coincide with the World Heritage bid for Cornwall and West Devons industrial heritage.
Concerns were raised by local landowners towards increased numbers of visitors to the area and the dangers of roaming open moorland.
Considering people have roamed around up there since god knows when, I dont think they have much to worry about, but...
Hopfully if this all goes ahead money will be availiable to make safe the mining remains but also to do further archeological studies of the pre historic sites.
I will keep TMA posted.
Mr H
Just to prove that I do sometimes leave Cornwall...mid May, Silbury from West Kennet
Largest of the four remaining stones, the west stone is about 5ft high.
Eastern Stone looking north towards Brown Willy. “modern” wall can be seen behind stone.
I feel I should have planted a flag.....the first entry for this site!
The Stipple Stones and henge lie on the southern shoulder of Hawks Tor, just north of the A30 heading towards Bolventor from Bodmin. Infact the constant drone of traffic makes you realise how close you are.
I am not sure how you are legally supposed to access them but I aproached via the Trippet Stones, down into the valley to the left of Hawks Tor farm, through a gate and up an old trackway. This brings you out below HawksTor, climb to the summit then descend towards the south heading for a gate. Once through the gate the henge is ahead slightly to the left.
It consists of four upright stones, plus others that have fallen, inside a shallow ditch. THe central menhir lies fallen and has at some time been cut for moor stone. A wall eats into the eastern side of the henge and over it nothing remains of the ditch.
On a sunny day in June this is a magical site (if you can ignore the traffic noise) but i do wonder what brought man to this site all those years ago, what makes this such a special place?
This solitary barrow can no longer be seen on the ground. In fact I know of no one who remembers it being here...but everybody in the area refers to the graveyard and Chapel nearby as Mabel Barrow!
I felt I had to include it as I can see the site when I look up from the computer screen.
CROW Info and leaflet
The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 will give people a new right of access to walk over large areas of open countryside and common land.
This recently updated leaflet describes how these new access arrangements will be put into practice on the ground in England, and explains what they will mean for those involved, especially farmers, landowners and countryside visitors. One side of the leaflet is designed to be used as a wall poster and is illustrated with some stylish original artwork. The leaflet is available free of charge and can be ordered in large quantities for distribution to walkers, visitors or other interested groups. To order, go to countryside.gov.uk/Publications/articles/Publication_tcm2-4228.asp
The current planned (ie not yet confirmed) commencement date for the South West is August 2005.
The largest of what is becomming an ever growing number of settlements in Pelynt parish. Permission to visit them should be asked at Hall Barton Farm in Pelynt village.
All that remains of this fort is the oval shaped hedge and bank that surrounds a field. It position in the West Looe valley would have made it difficult to attack being on a steep sided promontry. Originally a small round fort at the north end, another circle was added to fill the current space. Eventually the Giants Hedge was built on the east side and this became the main defensive wall.
During the dark ages it was the site of a hermitage and Chapel for St Nunna, the mother of St David. An unspoilt well that bears her name is just to the north.
I had seen this site on the map but until now had never seen or heard anyone talk of it. Last night I was shown an arial photo and within the next couple of weeks I will go and have a look at what has been described as a low bank.
I am amazed at the amount of settlements that we have in this small corner of South East Cornwall. Is it a coincidence that many of them are on the high land above the Giants Hedge?
I have just been shown an ariel photo of the field marked as Barcelona on the OS map. There is a large circle showing slap bang in the middle. According to the local historian (who lives not far from the site) a dig was done a few years ago and a ditch was discovered on the outside of the circle.
Looking at the field today nothing can be seen from the ground. Four fields away to the NW another settlement is marked on the map. Both are inside the area encircled by the Giants Hedge.
This barrow (CAU named it), sits just north of the South West Coast Path between Downderry and Portwrinkle. I have passed it but not had a close look. Can also be accessed from the B3247, park near the 141 contour mark.
Is this another stone cross in the making? It lies at Long Toms feet, west side.
This barrow lies to the west of The Hurlers carpark on the ridge running parallel to the road. It has been dug into leaving just an arc of wall. It is not the Minions Mound although it looks that way on the map.
OK, hands up who’s parked in the car park and walked to The Hurlers and missed this?
Easily done, don’t look much like a barrow I agree. But this my friends is how Minions got its name. On an 1845 map of the area the only thing marked (apart from mines) are the Hurlers and the Minions Barrow.
Nowadays it sits entombed behind a 4ft high granite wall and I can find no record of any dig ever being done on it . Possibly because it had been “explored” by local miners same as the Rillaton Barrow.
Just west of the mound is another tumuli which has definatly been dug into. This is the one that seems to be marked as the Minions Mound on the OS map, belive me it ain’t!
Mixed Feelings At Giant Etchings
Western Morning News, 24 April 2004
A Devon historian has uncovered evidence that the jewel in Plymouth’s crown was once adorned with two pagan giants engaged in a legendary battle.
During his research for a book on the county’s forgotten heritage, called Lost Devon, Dr Todd Gray found local council records giving details about the figures, symbols of fertility and similar to the well-known Dorset giant at Cerne Abbas. While there are no exact details of where the giants were etched, Dr Gray believes they would have been on one of the grassy slopes facing out to sea.
He has taken steps to return the goliaths to their former haunt, writing to Plymouth City Council’s chief executive to suggest they are repainted for this year’s May Day festivities.
He said: “So much of our heritage is lost to fires and wars, never to be replaced, but this is something that can be brought back to life. These giants are part of Plymouth’s mythology and there is nothing else like it in the whole of Devon and Cornwall.”
Mr Gray found the first references to the “Gogmagogs” in The History of the Kings of Britain by 12th century scholar and writer Geoffrey of Monmouth.
He told the legend of two giants who wrestled with clubs, one eventually throwing the other into the sea, and hinted that the battle scene took place on Plymouth Hoe.
The giants appear again in official council records in 1480, as city elders employed workers to repaint the lines in time for pagan May Day festivities each year. The last reference to the colossi can be seen at the beginning of the 1600s in the writing of early-day Devon historian Thomas Westcote, before they fade from historical memory, possibly due to Puritan sensitivities in the 1630s.
Plymouth City Council confirmed that it had received Mr Gray’s letter.
A spokeswoman said: “We will be considering Mr Gray’s suggestion, which is possibly the most unusual we have ever seen. We will be responding shortly.”
The idea to restore the giants has been met with mixed reactions. Devonport Labour MP David Jamieson said: “It would be interesting to see if it fitted with other planned developments on the Hoe.
“I am all for historical things being brought back, but it would have to be in keeping with the rest of the Hoe and fitting for the 21st century.”
Tourism South West chief Malcolm Bell was against the move, saying it would turn the Hoe into a Disney-style theme park.
He said: “These things tend not to be popular with tourists as they seem false when re-created.
“I also believe that the Dorset site has had problems with couples getting amorous in the grass, and we don’t want Plymouth to be known for that sort of thing!”
Helen Mann, secretary of the Old Plymouth Society, said: “All I know is that the figures hold legendary status. No one knows a great deal about them because of the lack of records, but I doubt they ever existed – it’s a bit of a myth.”
Edna Morre, of the Hoe Conservation Society, said: “There are already other on-going plans to develop the Hoe so we’d have to know how these proposals would fit in.
“The area’s strength is its natural beauty, and it should be enjoyed without the need for other attractions – but I’m probably in the minority there.”
JT Blight in a journal for the Royal Institute of Cornwall (1862) stated the Tolven was “formerly a conspicuous object by the way-side. In the past 12 or 14 years a house has been built betwixt it and the road. It now forms part of a garden hedge” He also wrote of a low barrow about 20 yards in diameter ina field adjoining the stone 18 yards across the road. Beside this was a kist which Blight refered to as a cradle used to place children in after they had been passed through the Tolven.
Another reference to the Tolven is found in “The Cornishman” newspaper in 1879. Here it is stated that the stone originally lay on nearby Fean Downs but was considered unsafe. A Mr Moyles, whilst building a new house in 1847 had the stone moved to help form a hedge to his new property. Ignoring those that said it was bad luck to move the stone Mr Moyles then proceded to knock off portions of the top and bottom of the stone.
This information was gained from an article in the 2001 Old Cornwall Society magazine by Michael Tangye.
Stowe’s Pound is a large sprawling site. Often ignored by those that visit the Cheesewring, it stretches away to the north encirculing the top of the hill.
The pound is divided in to two circular enclosures. The smaller one is the one that surrounds the summit rock formations including the famous Cheeswring. Part of it has been destroyed by the 19th Century quarry.
The northern enclosure lies on a slightly lower level and features within itself many cleared circles which the CAU believe were for setting up tents in during the summer months. In the far north east of the site a 3 tiered barrow can be found.
Looking up at the west side of Stowe’s Pound. The rock formations are inside the walls, as is the Cheesewring, just out of picture to the right.