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Summary

Nine Maidens stone circle on Boskednan Moor has a diameter of 21.85m and now comprises 11 stones of which five are upright.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument CO49: 'Nine Maidens' or Boskednan stone circle

Other References/Statuses

• National Mapping Programme (Morph No.): 292.1
• OS No. (OS Quarter-sheet and OS No.): SW43NW 40
• Primary Record No. (1985-2009): 30684
• SMR No. (OS Quarter-sheet and SMR No.): SW43NW 46

Monument Type(s):

• STONE CIRCLE (Bronze Age - 2500 BC to 801 BC)

Full description

The Boskednan stone circle, 'Nine Maidens', is situated in a wide area of comparatively flat, open moorland at 224m OD, 1.0km SSE of Carn Galva.

The circle comprises eleven stones, seven of which are standing, two of these recumbent. An upright on the right on the north side has a height of 1.98m (b16). To the immediate west of the tallest stone is a recumbent stone 2.3m long, and to the east another 1.7m long. Other stones range from 1.2m to 1.5m long (h2). Boskednan stone circle is a Scheduled Monument (b11).

The site is first documented by Borlase in 1754, who records nineteen stones, thirteen upright and six fallen (b2). In 1825 Cotton noted that three stones had been removed, five had fallen and two had developed considerable leans (b3). By 1872, WC Borlase who partly excavated the site but with no finds, records seven uprights (b5). Accounts are also given by Lukis (b6), the Victoria County History (b8) and Hencken (b10). The stone circle is shown on the OS maps of 1906 (b9) and 1963 (b12) and is listed by Russell in 1971 who records six stones standing (b13). The OS surveyed the monument in 1975 at 1:2500, recording five upright stones, three inclined and three recumbent. Barnatt in 1982 records a true circle of 21.85m diameter with the spacing between the extant stones apparently regular. He suggests an original number of twenty-two or twenty-three stones (b16).

Several trial mineral workings exist nearby, one of which lies in the circle. The tallest stone in the north, with the fallen stone next to it, would have formed a pair of portal stones orientated to the prominent Carn Galva. Immediately adjacent to the circle, but not overlaying it is a barrow (30683), with others lying to the NNW (30687-30689) and the remains of a menhir (30682) (b18). The circle is visible on air photographs (p1) and was plotted for the NMP.

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Site history:
h1: 1956. SAUNDERS, A / MOW
h2: 1975. QUINNELL, NV / OS
h3: 1980. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
h4: 1983. SHEPPARD, PA / DOE
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Borlase, W, 1740, Parochial Memoranda, 9 (Unpublished document). SCO2884.

CAU, 1992, F34/36 (Photographic Record). SCO18126.

Borlase, W, 1769, Antiquities Historical and Monumental of the County of Cornwall, 187, PL 164 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2878.

Cotton, W, 1827, Illustrations of Stone Circles, Cromlechs, and Other Remains of the Aboriginal (Bibliographic reference). SCO3177.

BLIGHT, JT, 1868, UNKNOWN TITLE, MARCH 1868, 312-314 (Unedited Source). SCO6233.

Borlase, WC, 1872, Naenia Cornubiae, 126M, 280-283 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2892.

Lukis, WC & Borlase, WC, 1885, Prehistoric Stone Monuments: Cornwall, VOL 2, 24, PL 4 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3881.

UNKNOWN, 1893, UNKNOWN TITLE, 149, 155, 162, 166, 168 (Unedited Source). SCO6548.

Page, W (Editor), 1906, Victoria History of the County of Cornwall, 386-388 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4068.

Ordnance Survey, 1880s, 1st Edition 1:2500 Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4048.

Hencken, H O'N, 1932, The Archaeology of Cornwall and Scilly, 56, 297, 319 (Bibliographic reference). SCO3489.

MOW, 19--, OW 819 (Unedited Source). SCO6723.

Ordnance Survey, 1970s, 1:10,000 OS Map (Cartographic materials). SCO4045.

Russell, V, 1971, West Penwith Survey, 36 (Bibliographic reference). SCO4314.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Weatherhill, C, 1981, Belerion: Ancient Sites of Land's End, 21 (Bibliographic reference). SCO5027.

Barnatt, J, 1982, Prehistoric Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments, 61-63, 66, 68-71, 165-167, 249 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2777.

Sheppard, PA (for DOE), 19--, Scheduled Monument Description (Bibliographic reference). SCO5181.

Barnatt, J, 1989, Stone Circles of Britain, 395-396 (Bibliographic reference). SCO2778.

Jackson, M. & Jackson, A., 2006, Ancient Stones of Kernow (Booklet). SCO27463.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Related records: none recorded

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