Location | Boskednan, Madron, Cornwall, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 50°09′38″N5°35′37″W / 50.1605408°N 5.5936987°W |
Type | Stone circle |
History | |
Periods | Neolithic / Bronze Age |
Site notes | |
Ownership | CASPN |
Official name | Large regular stone circle known as the 'Nine Maidens' and a round cairn 690m north-west of Killiow Farm |
Designated | 30 November 1926 |
Reference no. | 1006738 |
Boskednan stone circle (grid reference SW434351 ) is a partially restored prehistoric stone circle near Boskednan, around 4 miles (6.4 kilometres) northwest of the town of Penzance in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The megalithic monument is traditionally known as the Nine Maidens or Nine Stones of Boskednan, although the original structure may have contained as many as 22 upright stones around its 69-metre perimeter.
The stone circle is in southwest Cornwall north of the road from Madron to Morvah, and is approximately 1 km northwest of the village of Boskednan and can only be reached on foot. The enigmatic Mên-an-Tol stones (which may also be the remains of a stone circle) are less than 1 kilometre to the southwest. [1]
The stone circle once probably consisted of 22 granite blocks, from which 10 still survive. Six stones stand upright, one sits half a metre out of the ground, the others remain lying in the soil. The stones are all about 1 m high, the highest measure approximately 2 m and stand to northern edge of the circle. [2] The stone circle originally described a circle with a diameter of approximately 22 m. The stone circle may have belonged with the nearby barrow to an extensive cult district. [3]
Stone circles such as that at Boskednan, were erected in the late Neolithic or in the early Bronze Age by representatives of a Megalithic culture. The first mention of the stone circle in modern times, in 1754, is found in the work Antiquities, historical and monumental, of the County of Cornwall by William Borlase, who reported 19 upright standing stones. William Copeland Borlase, a descendant of the earlier Borlase, conducted excavations and found a cist and a funerary urn near the stone circle, dating from the early Bronze Age. Borlase described his discoveries in 1872 in his work Naenia Cornubiae, which concerns prehistoric monuments of Cornwall. [3]
Other prehistoric stone circles in the Penwith region
The Mên-an-Tol is a small formation of standing stones in Cornwall, UK. It is about three miles northwest of Madron. It is also known locally as the "Crick Stone".
Lanyon Quoit is a dolmen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 2 miles southeast of Morvah. It collapsed in a storm in 1815 and was re-erected nine years later, and as a result the dolmen is now very different from its original appearance.
The Nine Ladies is a stone circle located on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire in the English East Midlands. The Nine Ladies is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages, over a period between 3300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that the stones represented supernatural entities for the circles' builders.
The Hurlers is a group of three stone circles in the civil parish of St Cleer, Cornwall, England, UK. The site is half-a-mile (0.8 km) west of the village of Minions on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor, and approximately four miles (6 km) north of Liskeard.
The Merry Maidens, also known as Dawn's Men is a late neolithic stone circle located 2 miles (3 km) to the south of the village of St Buryan, in Cornwall. A pair of standing stones, The Pipers is associated both geographically and in legend.
The Tregiffian Burial Chamber is a Neolithic or early Bronze Age chambered tomb. It is near Lamorna in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a rare form of a passage grave, known as an Entrance grave. It has an entrance passage, lined with stone slabs, which leads into a central chamber. This type of tomb is also found in the neighbouring Isles of Scilly.
Boscawen-Ûn is a Bronze Age stone circle close to St Buryan in Cornwall, UK. It consists of nineteen upright stones in an ellipse with another, leaning, middle stone just south of the centre. There is a west-facing gap in the circle, which may have formed an entrance. The elliptical circle has diameters 24.9 and 21.9 metres. It is located at grid reference SW412274.
Tregeseal East is a heavily restored prehistoric stone circle around one mile northeast of the town of St Just in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The nineteen granite stones are also known as The Dancing Stones. It is the one surviving circle of three that once stood aligned along an east–west axis on the hillside to the south of Carn Kenidjack.
Craddock Moor Stone Circle or Craddock Moor Circle is a stone circle located near Minions on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. It is situated around half a mile Northwest of The Hurlers.
Stannon stone circle is a stone circle located near St. Breward on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England.
Duloe stone circle or Duloe circle is a stone circle near the village of Duloe, located 5 miles (8.0 km) from Looe in southeast Cornwall, England, UK.
Fernacre, also known as Fernacre stone circle or Fernacre circle, is a stone circle located on the slopes of the De Lank River, 1.25 miles (2.01 km) northeast of St Breward on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall in the United Kingdom.
Goodaver, Goodaver stone circle or Goodaver circle is a stone circle located in the parish of Altarnun, near Bolventor on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall.
The Trippet stones or Trippet stones circle is a stone circle located on Manor Common in Blisland, 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north northeast of Bodmin on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. The Stripple stones are nearby.
The Stripple stones is a henge and stone circle located on the south slope of Hawk's Tor, Blisland, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) north northeast of Bodmin on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, England, UK.
The Nine Stones is a stone circle 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south southeast of Altarnun, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) west of Launceston on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK.
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3300 to 900 BCE in Great Britain, Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that around 4,000 of these monuments were originally constructed in this part of north-western Europe during this period. Around 1,300 of them are recorded, the others having been destroyed.
Brane Barrow, or Chapel Euny Barrow, is a Neolithic entrance grave located near the hamlet of Brane, Cornwall, England, UK. It is considered to be one of the smallest and best preserved burial monuments in Britain.
Boswens Menhir, also known as Boswens standing stone, or the Long Stone, is a standing stone 3 kilometres northeast of St Just in Penwith, in Cornwall, England.
The Nine Stones, also known as the Devil's Nine Stones, the Nine Ladies, or Lady Williams and her Dog, is a stone circle located near to the village of Winterbourne Abbas in the southwestern English county of Dorset. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age.