Scheduled Monuments›England›The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle

The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle

England
List entry 1006731
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1006731
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
0.18 hectares
Grid reference
SW 43243 24479, SW 43271 24507
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

The Merry Maidens is a Neolithic or Early Bronze Age stone circle located near Penzance in west Cornwall. The monument comprises nineteen standing stones arranged in a roughly circular setting, though several stones have fallen or been removed since antiquity. The circle is believed to date from the third or second millennium before the present, placing it within the broader tradition of ritual monument construction in prehistoric Britain. The local tradition attributing the stones to petrified maidens dancing on the Sabbath reflects the folk nomenclature applied to many such circles, though the site's true ritual and ceremonial purpose remains a subject of archaeological interpretation.

The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1006731. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle?

The Merry Maidens is a Neolithic or Early Bronze Age stone circle located near Penzance in west Cornwall. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1006731.

Who is responsible for protecting The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle?

The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1006731.

What other scheduled monuments are near The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow 300m south west of the Merry Maidens Stone Circle (0.3 km), Standing stone 410m south east of Boskenna Cross (0.7 km), Boskenna Cross (0.7 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

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Nearby

Other scheduled monuments within 10 km

Bowl barrow 300m south west of the Merry Maidens Stone Circle
0.3 km
Standing stone 410m south east of Boskenna Cross
0.7 km
Boskenna Cross
0.7 km
An early Christian memorial stone at Boskenna
1.3 km
Boskenna Gate Cross
1.3 km
Promontory fort known as Treryn Dinas
4.2 km
Cross 150m south west of Rospletha
5.5 km
Wayside cross in St Levan churchyard, 10m north east of the church
5.7 km
The ground beneath

The bedrock under The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle

The Merry Maidens (or Dawns Men) stone circle stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Carboniferous To Permian, bedrock that formed in the Permian. The rock here is felsic-rock.

Domesday entry for St Buryan, Cornwall →
All Scheduled Monuments