Tregoodwell, Stannon and the Long Cairn Wonder
This three and half hour walk starts and ends in Tregoodwell. It can be shortened if you leave a car at the NT carpark at Rough Tor to save on the long road march back from there. Visit the tallest menhir on Bodmin Moor, then on to the Stannon Stone Circle and finally the incredible, but often missed, Rough Tor Long Cairn.
4000 years ago on Bodmin Moor they made this amazing Long Cairn. One of the longest in Europe. Originally we think it was built as a walkway for three people abreast, it sweeps up the hill heading first to Showery Tor and then to Little Rough Tor. Alignments that would have been of significance all those years ago. Land of the Giants? Unlike beach art these lines have stood the test of time but no one has quite worked out their real significance.
The 500 metre long stone cairn was excavated by Phil Harding at the point shown in the white box where a track was driven right through it during military use of the land during the second world war. The excavation revealed a quite sophisticated construction method, with two retaining walls made up of larger stones on either side of the cairn containing a rubble infill in the middle. Other stones were laid up against these walls to provide buttressing and there was evidence of a stone 'pavement' alongside the cairn.
The excavation also revealed that the turf had been stripped from the original ground surface when the cairn was built, possibly as some form of ritual 'cleansing' of the land. The removed turfs were probably placed on top of the cairn to complete what would have been a dramatic feature on the landscape. Although there were no finds to confirm the date, the construction methods placed the monument firmly in the Neolithic period." The Neolithic period lasted from around 4300 BC down to 2000 BC, so some 6000 years before present. Neolithic means 'New Stone' and so this period is sometimes called the New Stone Age. Famous Neolithic sites in Britain include Avebury, Stonehenge, and Silbury Hill
Align yourself to Showery Tor. About 4000 years ago it was the mystical focal point for North Cornwall. When you consider that only giants could have stacked these massive rocks you can understand why it would have been so impressive! The long cairn below is often missed by walkers on Rough Tor but was an incredible man-made walkway that headed directly for Showery Tor before swinging around to point at the other stone stacks.
The red marker shows where you can leave a car at the NT car park to avoid the long road walk back to the start/end at Tregoodwell.
OS 1888-1913
The changing landscapes and land use shown from the 1888-1913 OS maps
Of the 16 Standing Stones left on Bodmin Moor, the Long Stone near Moorgate Spring is the tallest one. It is about 9 feet tall.
Peter Herring comments:
Beautiful slender stone, the tallest menhir on Bodmin Moor at 2.7m, or 9 feet tall. Placed on a false crest so that it thrusts up into the sky when approached from downhill to the west. It's so nicely placed that the full profile of Roughtor (with its Neolithic tor enclosure) comes suddenly into view on the skyline when reached, as in this view.
Text below taken from Historic England and the photo of Long Stone by Peter Herring. LONG STONE: Reasons for Designation Standing stones are ceremonial monuments dating from the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c.2400-700 BC). Estimates suggest that about 250 standing stones are known nationally, of which the 16 examples surviving on Bodmin Moor form an important sub-group
A Mark Yeoman Photograph of Stannon Stone Circle
Stannon Circle seems to be mentioned in few books of archaeology or antiquity. Why this should be is a mystery, it could be this site's remoteness that see's it excluded from guide books, but that is part of its charm - the only other creatures you are likely to encounter here are the sheep and wild horses of the moor.
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/stannon.htm
Stannon Stone Circle looking across to the landscaped spoil hill from the old Stannon China Clay works
The Stannon Stone Circle is visible as a sub-circular arrangement of 68 granite slabs. The circle is considered originally to have contained up to 82 slabs. The surviving slabs range in height from 0.3m to 1.16m but most are under 0.75m high.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1007764?section=official-list-entry
https://www.iwalkcornwall.co.uk/walk/camelford_to_watergate
The first part of the walk is covered in reverse by the last section of the excellent iwalkcornwall online guide.
