WHILE driving along the roads of the Land’s End Peninsula, or walking along its many public footpaths and old lanes, the traveller may glance at a solitary stone standing in a field grazed by cattle or surrounded by crops or, less frequently, half hidden amongst gorse, bracken and heather on the open rock-strewn moors.The height and bulk of some of these stones may dwarf the onlooker while others only reach waist high. Some may be tall and rectangular, others triangular-shaped. Some may have been deliberately shaped by human hand while others are simple rough blocks of granite.
All were important to those who first took the trouble and effort to move and erect them.
Standing stones are the commonest type of prehistoric monument in Cornwall, their local name being menhir from the Cornish words mên (stone) and hyr (long).
West Penwith still contains a greater concentration of standing stones and other prehistoric sites than any other comparable area in the British Isles. Through the centuries, it has attracted the attention of many antiquarians drawn to its unique magical landscape.
This study draws on the work and opinions of these men and women as well as on my own experiences and research.
Ian McNeil Cooke
2002
Long, long ago, stones were alive.
They spoke and delivered judgements,
distinguishing the rightful king from the usurper,
the honest man from the thief.
They made men, strong and true; women, loving and fruitful.
Once upon a time stones behaved just like mortals; they ate;
walked down to the nearest river to drink;
grew tall and strong; they even reproduced their kind!
Now they do none of these things; they are inert, lifeless, dead;
indeed 'stone dead' has passed into a proverb.
- T.G.F. Dexter The Sacred Stone - Origins of Stone Worship in Cornwall, 1932, Oak Magic 1998: p5.
A study of the menhirs of West Penwith, Cornwall, covering all known and suspected standing stones in the peninsula
Standing Stones of the Land's End Peninsula was first written and privately published by Ian McNeil Cooke in 2002, arising from his work in researching and inventorising the menhirs of West Penwith, Cornwall.
Ian's research has identified:
- definite standing stones - about which there is no doubt,
- queried menhirs - about which there are uncertainties,
- field names - suggesting possible menhirs.
A review of each and every menhir of each kind is included in this study.
The research was done by carrying out field visits, examining old documents and antiquarians' and archaeologists' reports and drawing on personal contacts and all other available information sources.
The listings of menhirs in this study are organised into parishes (green lines on the map on the right).In the definite menhirs, queried menhirs and field names sections of the site, adjacent parishes have been grouped in order to help with presentation. They aren't historic groupings.
But they are grouped in areas that might prove useful when you're planning to go out walking and exploring.
The groupings of parishes are shown in different colours on the map. Roads are in red and brown.
About Ian McNeil Cooke
I trained as a graphic designer in Kingston-upon-Thames during the late 1950s and came to live in West Cornwall in 1970. After a few years doing casual farm work, I began regular walks in this then, to me unfamiliar landscape with my sketch book – a landscape for which I developed a deep love and affection. I soon joined both the West Cornwall Footpaths Preservation Society and the Penwith/Kerrier Ramblers.In 1980 I bought the old Bosullow school house and converted it into my studio complete with etching press and all kinds of print-making paraphernalia – my work being almost entirely based on the local landscape with its prehistoric monuments.
It was while drawing the variety of fascinating megalithic remains that I began to wonder what they were; who put them there; how old they were. Extensive book reading followed to get an overall understanding of the pagan cults and community relationships that could have existed all those millennia ago. However, having read a considerable amount of relevant material I realised there were no available books that combined both local monuments and the public footpaths to them.
My attempt to combine monuments and paths through a series of circular walks was the self-publication in 1987 of Journey to the Stones: Nine walks to ancient sites in the Land’s End Peninsula, Cornwall: my inspiration coming from both Belerion – Ancient Sites of Land’s End (1981) by Craig Weatherhill, and from Des Hannigan’s Wildlife Walkabouts: Land’s End Peninsula, Cornwall (1986).
Journey was an immediate success and many thousands of copies have been sold over the years. My next major financial gamble – fortunately successful – was the publication in 1993 of Mother and Sun – the Cornish Fogou and, between 1999 and 2003, I produced short run copies of the Cross and Churchway Paths in the Land’s End Peninsula covering all 14 parishes.
Over the decades, my ‘antiquarian walks’ took in many standing stones: I hoped one day to publish an update of John Michell’s The Old Stones of Land’s End (1974). All my information and research was collated but never put in the public domain – until now.
Finally, sincere thanks to Palden for collating my material and presenting it for others to make use of as a basis for further research.
Ian McNeil Cooke 2019
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