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Boskednan or 'Nine Maidens'
Madron |
Penwith
NGR: SW 43426 35127 |
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Boskednan stone circle is situated in an extensive area of moorland
to the south-east of Carn Galver. Although it is also known as the Nine
Maidens, the circle now comprises eleven stones, two of which are
fallen. The even spacing between the surviving stones suggests that
the site was originally laid out as a perfect circle, just under 22
metres in diameter, comprising 22 or 23 stones,
the inner faces of which would have been smooth and flat, a common
feature of many Cornish stone circles. When WC Borlase visited the
circle in the mid 17th century there were still nineteen stones, but
over the next two hundred years the site was badly affected by the
activities of stone splitters and miners. One or two of the stones
bear distinctive splitting marks, indicating that their destruction
was recent and deliberate.
All the stones are of even height except a taller pair which stand
together on the north-west side. One stands almost two metres high,
whilst its neighbour, broken now, has a substantial base suggesting
that it too could have been as tall. From the centre of the circle
these two form a portal which frames the rocky summit of Carn Galver.
Along the broad ridge which links the circle and the carn the stump
of a broken menhir and a large kerbed cairn are prominent features,
and a substantial barrow cemetery lies in the middle distance. As no
recent excavations have taken place it is impossible to be certain
whether they are contemporary with the circle or later.
An account of the site written in 1848 refers to some urns being
found in the vicinity of the stone circle by labourers digging on
the site, and in 1872, when WC Borlase excavated the remains of the
barrow which lies close to the south-east of the circle he revealed
the remains of a stone lined burial chamber or cist which had been
previously disturbed. He found an urn beside the cist which was of a
type known as Trevisker Ware (from the type site north of Newquay)
and was covered with chevron designs. This style of pottery can be
used to date the barrow to the Early Bronze Age. The area has been
heavily disturbed and traces of these sites and features can be hard
to recognise on the ground today.
Whilst the function of stone circles may be uncertain, it has been
noted that such sites sit within a ‘ceremonial landscape’ which
incorporates other broadly contemporary megalithic monuments, and
where it is possible to see relationships and alignments between
sites and prominent landscape features. The natural focus of the
monuments in this area is clearly Carn Galver, where slight traces
of a possible Neolithic tor enclosure have been identified. Whether
this is the case or not, the Carn is clearly the predominant natural
feature of the area, a rocky summit demanding the attention of the
visitor, and casting its influence over a wide area.
Boskednan stone circle lies in open ground with access via trackways
from Boskednan, Ding Dong engine house,
Men-an-Tol and via Carn
Galver itself. The ground is often very boggy and care should be
exercised.
Sources
Barnatt, J, 1982. Prehistoric
Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments. Turnstone Press Limited.
ISBN 0 85500 129 1
Payne, R. 1999. The Romance of the Stones: Cornwall's Pagan Past.
Alexander Associates. ISBN 899526 66 8 |
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Ground & Aerial photographs |
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