Mên-an-Tol
Stone Complex
SW 426 349
Follow the path from Boskednan circle to this lane or you can park at the other end of the lane before Lanyon Farm at SW 418 345
This site appears on postcards everywhere in Cornwall and we even drove past a reproduction of it in someone’s front garden. It is both the most famous and controversial site in Cornwall. Part of it’s fame is a result of it’s reputation for cures and the practice of people squeezing through the hole in the stone led to a need to restore it as the stone was coming loose.
It is situated on a stretch of open moorland with Boskednan circle just visible on the skyline to the east. The name Mên-an-Tol means “holed stone” and refers to the central holed stone in the present arrangement of three stones in a row. The monument consists of four main stones, three standing and one fallen, all between just under 1 metre to 1.22 metres in height.
The hole in the stone is about .46m (18”) and some believed it was the entrance stone to a chambered tomb but more recent research has led to the possibility of it being part of a circle as traces of some 11 stones have been found, so far this is unconfirmed. Traditional rituals at Mên-an-Tol involve passing three times through the holed stone, anticlockwise, according to a lady we spoke to.
Do these dogs hold the record for visiting megalithic sites?
From the monument continue along the footpath over the moor towards a mine building where you rejoin the path. Take the left on this path at the mine to lead back to the first mine building where you started.
(We found out about another site later on called Bosilack Barrow at SW 431 342 that can be visited on this walk as well – the page on this site shows it as a separate walk but from the old mine it is a short walk to reach the footpath leading to the site)
Easter
2002