Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/462

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A HISTORY OF CORNWALL No. 4 on the other side ; Nos. 7 and 2 have fallen, and a large flat stone lies outside the position now occupied by two halves. This hedge was noted by other writers, but about 1862 the landowner, Miss Elizabeth Carne, had it removed, the fallen stones replaced, and a hedge built round the ring to protect it. At the same time she caused a trench to be cut through the circle, but nothing was found to throw light on its origin, and the circle is as this lady left it, a model for landowners who stand possessed of such monuments. DAWNS MN No. Remarks Height Breadth Thickness No. Remarks Height Breadth Thickness ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. I 3 4 2 i 3 II wide 3 7 4 o I 8 2 3 2 3 2 on at base 3 4 i 3 7 O IO 12 4 o 2 8 8 4 3 5 2 8 i 3 J 3 4 4 2 8 o 5 3 " 2 4 i 6 14 4 6 2 3 7 6 3 7 2 5 i i 15 leans out 4 4 2 O 8 7 shaped 3 5 2 5 on 16 3 " I I I i like cross 7 3 6 3 o o 9 8 4 * 1 9 2 2 18 leans in 2 10 3 o I O 9 4 6 2 7 i 5

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3 4 3 5 o 8 10 4 3 3 6 I O South of Boscawen-un and in the same parish is the circle called Dawns Men, which has some features in common with the other. It is situated on Rosemoddress farm, near to the hamlet of Boleit and 5 miles south-west of Penzance. The road makes a detour here, and a field-path, a short cut, crosses the grass field in which is the circle and passes through the circle itself. The diameter is 76 ft. and, as will be seen by the plan, the circle is nearly exact, though the spacing is rather irregular ; here also we find a gap wide enough to hold another stone, but on the east side. The stones are of granite, very uniform in size, and none exceeding 4 ft. 6 in. in height ; there is no centre stone ; one stone has been rudely hewn, probably at a later date, into a shape resembling one of the round-headed crosses so plentiful in the parish. The surroundings of a circle are important contributions to the con- sideration of its history, and the neighbourhood of this one is singularly rich in prehistoric remains. Two large menhirs, known as the ' Pipers,' stand at distances of 350 and 450 yards in a north-easterly direction (N. 40 E.), but probably were at no time visible from the circle, even without hedges. Sketches of these stones are given ; they are 13 ft. 6 in. and 1 5 ft. high, both are of granite and are much splintered and weather beaten. Another menhir stands 350 yards away on the south-south-east (S. 81 W.) in a cultivated field, formerly a piece of moorland called the Gun Rith ; this menhir is of granite also, and 10 ft. 6 in. high. W.C. Borlase caused excavations to be made at the bases of these three, but 382