The Hurlers is a group of three stone circles in the civil parish of St Cleer, Cornwall. The name 'Hurlers' derives from a legend, in which men were playing Cornish hurling on a Sunday and were magically transformed into stones as punishment.

The Hurlers comprises three stone circles that lie on a line from SSW to NNE, and have diameters of 35 metres, 42 metres and 33 metres. The two outer stone circles are circular. The middle circle, the largest is slightly elliptical. The survival of the southern stone circle, which now contains nine stones, has been most precarious: only two of the remaining stones are upright and the other seven are partially covered with soil. In the middle circle 14 stones survive out of 28. The stones show clear traces of being hammered smooth. The northern stone circle contained around 30 standing stones, from which 15 are still visible. Two other monoliths, the Pipers, are 100 metres southwest of the middle circle and may be entrance stones to the Hurlers.

References:

Comments

Your name



Address

St Cleer, United Kingdom
See all sites in St Cleer

Details

Founded: 3500-2000 BCE
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in United Kingdom

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Andy Boult (2 years ago)
If your thing is megalithic stone circles, this is for you. The scenery is awesome, and there are some great historic buildings from the mining industry,
Jessica Thame (2 years ago)
Absolutely stunning hike ! Highly recommend as there’s so much to walk to and see.
Adrian Mack (2 years ago)
Intriguing set of three circles on the edge of Bodmin Moor. Not quite the sense of mystery and intrigue that you find at Stonehenge or Avebury but still a significant site. The name hurlers is misleading, of course, as it gives no sense of what happened here as it is a more modern notion.
Weekend Wildness (2 years ago)
Well worth visiting while on this walk. Just a bunch of stones in a circle but pretty cool none the less ?
Owen Murphy (2 years ago)
Free parking. Ideal for a dog walk. Not pushchair friendly. It's lovely to see all the ponies and cattle roaming freely. The stone circles are interesting and nice to see.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Beckov Castle

The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends.