The Hurlers Stone Circles

Visitor Guide

From the free car park at Minions, it is a walk of around a quarter of a mile across uneven, open moorland to reach the circles. The ground can be wet and boggy, particularly after rain, so sturdy footwear is essential whatever the season. The site is remote and very exposed, with no shelter of any kind, so it is worth checking the weather before setting out.

The three circles reward a slow walk between them. Looking closely, visitors can pick out the surviving original stones alongside modern markers showing where missing stones once stood, evidence of the careful excavation and partial restoration carried out in the 1930s. A little further west, the two standing stones known as The Pipers add to the sense of a deliberately organised, wider prehistoric landscape rather than a single isolated monument.

From the circles, energetic visitors can continue north to Stowe's Hill and the massive prehistoric enclosure of Stowe's Pound, passing close to the distinctive granite tor known as the Cheesewring on the way. Rillaton Barrow, a Bronze Age burial mound famous for a spectacular gold cup discovered within it, lies roughly half a kilometre to the north-east, visible on the skyline from the northern circle. Together these sites make it easy to spend a full morning or afternoon exploring Bodmin Moor's prehistoric landscape on foot.

Allow at least thirty to forty-five minutes for the circles themselves, considerably longer if extending the walk to Stowe's Pound or the Cheesewring. Minions village, a short walk or drive away, has a shop and licensed tea room serving hot and cold drinks, cakes, Cornish pasties and cream teas, with limited customer parking adjacent to the shop front.

History

The Hurlers consist of three adjacent stone circles, aligned broadly north-east to south-west, a grouping of three regular circles that English Heritage describes as unique in England. The northern circle retains fifteen original stones, with markers indicating the positions of others identified during excavation. The central circle is the best preserved, with fourteen original stones and markers for those missing, while the southern circle is less complete, with nine surviving stones, several of them fallen. The circles were built from local granite, and excavation evidence shows that some stones were deliberately shaped or hammer-dressed, suggesting a carefully planned monument, though differences between the three circles hint that the whole complex may have developed in stages rather than as a single undertaking.

The name "Hurlers" comes not from archaeology but from Cornish folklore: local legend holds that men playing the game of hurling on a Sunday were turned to stone as punishment, while the two isolated standing stones known as The Pipers, a short distance to the west, are said to be the musicians who accompanied them. The legend was already recorded in the 17th century by the antiquarian John Norden, showing how long the stones have captured local imagination even without any understanding of their true origin.

The Hurlers form part of a remarkably dense concentration of Late Neolithic and Bronze Age ceremonial and funerary monuments on this part of Bodmin Moor. Nearby sites include The Pipers, Rillaton Barrow, Stowe's Pound, the Cheesewring and the Craddock Moor stone circle. Rillaton Barrow, about half a kilometre to the north-east, is famous for the discovery of a richly furnished Bronze Age burial including the Rillaton Gold Cup, now held in the British Museum; the alignment of the northern circle points directly towards the barrow, which is visible on the skyline from the monument, suggesting a deliberate relationship between the two sites.

By the early 20th century, the circles had suffered from fallen stones, stone robbing and the effects of later land use, including tin-mining activity that left hollows and a slight bank within the circles. A major programme of excavation and reconstruction was carried out in 1935–36, directed by the archaeologist C. A. Ralegh Radford, whose work confirmed that the monument consisted of three separate circles rather than the remains of a single larger structure, allowed a number of fallen stones to be re-erected, and revealed a strip of granite paving between the northern and central circles whose purpose remains uncertain. Excavation in the central circle also found a layer of granite crystals associated with the hammer-dressing of the stones.

Today the Hurlers are owned by English Heritage but managed day-to-day by the Cornwall Heritage Trust, which cares for several prehistoric sites in this part of Cornwall. They remain freely accessible to visitors throughout the year, and continue to be studied as one of the most important and complete surviving examples of a prehistoric stone-circle grouping in Britain.

Important Features

• Three adjacent stone circles: a grouping described by English Heritage as unique in England, aligned north-east to south-west.
• The Pipers: two isolated standing stones a short distance west of the circles, associated with local legend.
• Stowe's Pound: a massive prehistoric hilltop enclosure on Stowe's Hill, to the north, close to the Cheesewring rock formation.
• Rillaton Barrow: a Bronze Age burial mound famous for the discovery of the Rillaton Gold Cup, now in the British Museum.
• Granite paving: a strip of deliberately laid stone found between the northern and central circles during excavation.
• 1935–36 excavation: led by C. A. Ralegh Radford, establishing the form of the circles seen today.
• Craddock Moor stone circle: a further prehistoric circle about a kilometre to the west-north-west, part of the same wider landscape.

Visitor Information

Things to Do Nearby

Frequently Asked Questions

Official English Heritage Site

For the latest access information, events and any temporary restrictions, check the official English Heritage page for The Hurlers Stone Circles before you travel.

Visit the official English Heritage website