Hurlers Stone Circles, Minions, Cornwall
The monument, which was excavated in the 1930s, consists of three stone circles aligned north-east to south-west. To the west is a pair of upright stones standing close together, known as the Pipers. Local legend identifies The Hurlers as men who were turned to stone for playing the ancient game of hurling on a Sunday. The two isolated stones of the Pipers are said to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate. The northern circle has 15 stones visible of the original 30. The central circle, the best preserved of the three, has 14 original stones and 14 markers to show where other stones would have stood. The southern circle has 9 original stones of which 7 have fallen. Some stones have been taken and reused elsewhere. Some have fallen over after being used by cattle as scratching posts! The circles are just one part of a large group of later Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments on this part of Bodmin Moor. The circles are directly lined up with some of the other monuments which include a large burial mound. Such circles are likely to have had considerable ritual importance for the societies that used them.This property is in the care of English Heritage and managed by the Cornwall Heritage Trust (2011). Read more.
