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Nine Maidens Downs is a moorland southwest of
Nine Maidens Downs is a moorland southwest of Four Lanes
Four Lanes ( kw, Peder Bownder) is a village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom approximately south of Redruth at in the civil parish of Carn Brea.
Pencoys is a smaller settlement which adjoins Four Lanes immediately to the south. St ...
in Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, England, UK.
Stone circles
The name Nine Maidens comes from twoEarly Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
stone circles which stood 18m apart on the downs. There was a belief that the stones were originally young women turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath.
Originally the south-east circle was 16m across with 14 or 15 stones. Half of this circle survives with a semicircle of five stones, four of which are free standing and the other is built into the Cornish hedge in its original position. At least one other stone still exists but was moved to build the hedge.
The north-west circle had a diameter of about 21m. Two of its stones remain in the hedge but may not be in their original positions. William Borlase
William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) ...
noted 10 stones of this circle remaining circa 1760.
Hangman's Barrow
Half a mile west of the stone circles, on a prominent ridge, is the massive Bronze Age cairn of Hangman's Barrow. The cairn, built entirely of stone, is 3m high and 20m in diameter. The centre has suffered from past tomb robbing attempts and nothing is known of its original contents.River Cober
Nine Maidens is the source of theriver Cober
The River Cober ( kw, Dowr Kohar) is a short river in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The river runs to the west of Helston into The Loe, Cornwall's largest natural lake.
Geology and hydrology
It rises in Nine Maidens Downs, directly ...
which rises between Hangman's Barrow to the west and the Nine Maidens stone circles to the east and runs to the west of the town of Helston
Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...
before entering the largest natural lake in Cornwall – Loe Pool.
School
Nine Maidens Board school was erected in 1878 at the northern end of the downs.References
{{coord, 50.184, N, 5.253, W, display=title Moorlands of Cornwall Archaeological sites in Cornwall