As the sun sinks into the western sky...
the notch on the tor to the left of the picture is supposed to be where the sun dissapears on midsummer.
Mr Hamhead
Brian Byng’s book “Dartmoor’s Mysterious Megaliths” mentions settlement remains to the north of the B3357. He also talks about a fallen menhir and the fact that it might have lined up with Pew Tor on the winter solstice.
The field, now open access, is full of stone and also full of bracken. Even with a sketch of what I am trying to find I fail miserably. Nevermind, I decide to explore the hut circles and enclosures, again hidden amongst the bracken.
I found four huts, I think!, none of them easy to photograph, then crossed the road to head back towards the stone rows.
Shortly after crossing the road I came across the biggest stones I have ever seen used to build a hut circle...if thats what it is. The hut itself was not large, perhaps 15ft across but the stones used in the construction are not your usual random moor stones.
The hillside is dotted in circles and enclosures, one even features an 18th century millstone, balanced on granite uprights, inside its perimeter.
Slightly to the north west of the western end of the northern stone row (are you following?) there is hidden amongst the grass what Byng calls a stone circle. The National Park booklet about Merrivale calls it a cairn. I thought it looked like a small circle, there are three or four stones in the circle plus one in the middle, not very cairn like.
From here it is a short walk to the stone rows
West into the setting sun. Merrivale quarry in the distance.
Looking north towards the road.
Look at the size of that stone! This is a hut circle on steroids!
The settlement at Merrivale spreads either side of the B3357. This enclosure wall is north of the road.
Following on from the news last year (spookily I posted it exactly a year ago) that the stone had been re-erected, I have just read in the Cornish Archaeological Society newsletter that the experts have done some dating on charcoal samples found in the original socket hole. These have found that the stone was probably erected between AD70 and AD240..a long time after they thought..somewhere between 1000BC and 3000BC.
There is always the possibility that it had been re-erected at that time, which raises interesting issues of attitudes to ancient monuments in the distant past writes Steve Hartgroves of Cornwall Historical Enviromental team.
Looking up the cairn to the “headstone”, just right of centre...not large stone to left..
Sept 28 2006
Not the best day for photography. Cairn running downhill in near distance.
Stuck out on the middle of the moor between Jamaica Inn and Brown Willy, this cairn is not the most easily accessible monument on the moor. It can be found by walking up the valley to the left of Codda farmhouse (Nth of Jamaica Inn) until you come to the boundry wall between the two parishes (Altarnun and St Breward) It sits close to the wall on the north side of the valley.
In shape it resembles a boat with a headstone at the upper blunt end. I would estimate it is about 15 yards long and 6 yards wide at the top end.
Looking north towards the village...one barrow in view.
Looking east cross the field as the sun set behind me..two barrows in view.
“My head was not so full with fancies as the head of Mr. McLauchlan, who went across to Duloe, called the fallen stones of the circle the results of the overthrow of Baal’s altar, reflected on the prevalence near-by of oak and vervein, and convinced himself that Duloe was Dru-los or the Hill of the Druids”.
from “Freedom of the Parish” by G Grigson 1954
Now available again through Westcountry Books
“A hundred and forty years ago, or thereabouts, labourers found a kist, or stone burial-box, an urn and some ashes when they were repairing the road which borders the field. Then in the eighteen thirties someone made a cut through one of the barrows and found a bronze axe (which has disappeared). In 1834 the farmer’s plough hit a large stone as it crossed a barrow. Under it his men found fragments of human bone and bits of charcoal and near-by a bronze dagger with rivets of a common type. The barrows were a nuisance -’The farmer proceeded to cart away for manure the largest barrow, nearest to the south hedge, but after uncovering it to the depth of nearly three feet, he found that he had laid bare a huge bed of stones, and desisted from his work.’ Dr. Couch heard of this on his rounds and decided eventually to investigate for himself. He dug, or had others to dig for him, through the stones to ground level, and discovered ashes, a battle-axe and a scrap of bronze, which was another fragment-the hilt end-of a dagger. Hilt and battle-axe went to the museum at Truro, where you can still see them. No one thought much of the scrap of bronze, though of all objects found in Pelynt it proved to be the one most exciting for the speculative mind, as we shall see.”
From “Freedom of the Parish” by Geoffrey Grigson published 1954. There is a whole chapter on antiquities in the parish including the Giants Hedge, various barrows and Bake and Hall rings. Now available again through Westcountry Books.
A real bu***r to find! Sits in the valley between Louden and Roughtor, just a low assortment of rocks orientated north south. I would not have found it with out a line drawing of what to look for..and then I was not too sure at first.
30 m long by 12m wide at the north end this cairn was not discovered until 1976 and only recognised as a long cairn in 1984.
Don’t go looking on Louden Hill for this circle..it’s to the south of it. The circle lies on a plateau just to the south of the track to Fernacre Fm from Middlemoor Cross. Visiting in August most of the stones are well obscured by the grass..although there are very few to be seen anyway. To be honest it is not worth making the trip just to see this circle...good job Fernacre is just up the track and Stannon just over the hill..oh and Roughtor and Brown Willy looking down on you from above...and all the stuff to hunt for on Loudon Hill..and just the thrill of being out on Bodmin Moor.
What more could you want?
looking towards Roughtor, this stone is the most prominent..and I think the most southerly of the circle.
Low on the ground..in a featureless bit of the moor...not easy to find. Looking NW down the avenue 6.9.06
Full moon over Ginsters!...with partial eclipse..or is it obscured by pasty fumes?
7.9.06
Stowes pound from the west. The cheesewring clings to the side of the hill on the right hand side of the photo. The Hillfort takes upp the whole length of the hill.
..out of the mist...a mound appeared! Could this be the cairn I have tried so hard to reach for two years..would it be worth the the walk through thick mist and heavy dew?
No...not really.
I could only make out three lumps of granite...all looking randomly piled..whilst everywhere else infill obscures any remants of the original structure.
August in Cornwall! The mist only added to the gloomy feeling you get when you visit this cairn. If it wasn’t for the fact that it is marked as a cairn on the OS map I would have passed this by as a pile of stones cleared from the field....which I think most of it is....
Just when you think you know of all the sites in West Penwith you find Ocifant has posted some info on one you are not familiar with..so you have to have a look.
A couple of weeks ago at the Dry Tree Menhir on the Lizard I was having a discussion about the biggest menhir in Cornwall. I was adamant that nothing compared with Dry Tree.....then I find this beauty!
OK, so she is not so broad, but height wise she must come pretty close. Positioned on the brow of a hill with far reaching views eastward into Cornwall and over St Ives bay at one time this must have been a wild windswept place. Now the stock fencing and nearby development take away some of the feeling for the place but standing to the north of the stone looking back towards Trencrom Hill you can just about imagine the Bronze Age landscape.
As with Ocifants instructions, park by the big bowl and take the footpath up past the cottages. It starts off as a nice Cornish lane and then as you pass the last cottage turns into a narrow path before entering the field. Stone is over to right, can’t see any reason for not being able to walk to it.
Mr H
Bottom of stone shows signs of damage...may be man-made, may be frost damage. Needs to be kept an eye on.