The
Hurlers
Stone Circles
SX
258 714
From Liskeard head towards Minions and on the way you will pass King Doniert’s Stone. There is a small layby beside it. This is the remains of a broken Cornish cross that is carved with a knotwork pattern. The story goes that King Doniert was out hunting and drowned in the River Fowey nearby in 872 AD and the stone is inscribed in Latin “Doniert asks prayers for his soul”.
King Doniert’s Stone
The road carries on to Minions where there is a carpark near the circles which are a short walk to the north. An alternative route is from the B3254 where you turn off at Upton Cross to Minions.
View from the south
You approach the trio of circles from the south. They are in a line NNE – SSW and are very close together. The southern circle is the smallest, just over 30m diameter and most of the stones have fallen or are missing. Only nine remain from a probable 26 with only two of these standing.
The central circle
The central circle is the largest at around 40 metres diameter and has 15 standing stones as well as several stumps from a possible 28 original stones. The tallest is 1.8 metres high.
Just about 20 metres further north is the northern circle with 11 standing and 5 fallen stones forming a 34 metre diameter circle. The central and the northern circles were once linked by a granite pathway along their axis and excavation showed that the northern circle was paved with granite and the interior of the central circle was spread with quartz crystals.
The northern circle
Almost 100 metres to the WSW of the central circle are two tall standing stones called The Pipers. These were again named for musicians turned to stone for playing music on the Sabbath. They stand 2 metres apart and are 1.5 and 1.7 metres tall.
The Pipers
The Hurlers are named after a game played involving a wooden ball and hurling it to each other. The players, like the pipers, were also turned to stone for playing on Sunday!
Less than ½ mile away from this circle uphill lies the Rillaton round barrow and a little further to the NW lies the ruined circle on Craddock Moor.
Easter
2002