Merry Maidens Stone Circle, Cornwall

I love prehistoric stone circles. So when we visited Cornwall in December, I had to go and pay my respects to the Merry Maidens, located just a few miles from Land’s End.

One of the things that make the Merry Maidens so special is that they form an almost perfect circle, roughly 78 feet in diameter. The tallest stone of the 19 granite monoliths (originally there were only 18) stands just over 4½ feet tall.

Constructed some time during the Late Neolithic, the Maidens were re-erected in the mid 1800s, during which time the extra stone was added.

Legend has it (as is often the case) that the stones are dancers turned to stone for breaking the Sabbath. A few hundred feet away are two tall standing stones, the Pipers, which are supposed to be the musicians that played for the dancing maidens. (Sadly, I only found out about the presence of the Pipers while writing this blog… another excuse to return to Cornwall, I think!)

In the summer, the Merry Maidens are unsurprisingly a popular destination for visitors. One of the benefits of being in Cornwall in December was that we got them all to ourselves!

This post is inspired by this week’s photo challenges of Stillness from Ailsa of Where’s My Backpack?, Curve from Cheri of the Daily Post and Open from Hugh of Hugh’s News and Views.

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