The Merry Maidens Stone Circle
Item #011

Penwith, the westernmost region of Cornwall, is one of the most densely populated venues of stone circles and ancient stone monuments in Britain. This circle of nineteen stones west of Lamorna is called the Merry Maidens. Supposedly nineteen maidens danced too long on a Saturday night and were still rollicking on the Sabbath, for which trespass they were turned to stone – and the two tall stones a field away are known as the Pipers who played the tunes. This of course is a later Christian interpretation for stones that predate Christianity by 2000 years. Were they used for ritual? for celebration? For seasonal passing or for commemoration?  Whatever their unexplained origin, the circles inspire a sense of awe. I for one cannot barge into such a space, but enter with a sense of curiosity, reverence, and connectedness beyond time and space, a renewed sense of Cornwall as primal.

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