Merry Maidens Stone Circle

The Merry Maidens or Dans Maen is made up of nineteen granite stones. It is a Neolithic stone circle with the highest stone being 1.4 metres. The diameter is about twenty-four metres and circles of this type are thought to serve a ritual purpose and placed relative to relate astronomical features. The site is located in a field by the B3315 west of Lamorna.

Our visit

Travelling from Lamorna along the B3315, the site is off the south side of the road southwest of the Lamorna Valley. I had already read about the site in the excellent "Cornovia-Ancient Sites of Cornwall and Scilly 4000 BC - 1000 AD" by Craig Weatherhill, so my expectations were high. It was late afternoon on this March day, Climbing the style and crossing the field towards the circle it is difficult not to be impressed by what Craig Weatherhill describes as 'this beautiful Bronze Age ring'. The circle has 19 stones which range from 0.8m to 1.4m. As always with sites like this I always touch one of the stones in greeting and again when I leave. I suppose a bit of it is superstition. It is also an acknowledgement to those that created structures like this and the beliefs that drove them to do it. This is a site that should not be missed.