Some places feel lost even when you find them . . .
Goodaver stone circle is one of those places. Hidden on an peaceful area of Bodmin Moor between Goodaver Downs and Smith’s moor this circle is rarely visited, mostly because it is so hard to get too.
I first visited the circle last year with a friend as my guide, I will leave it to him to give you more detailed directions HERE. The walk was mostly through the rather spooky Halvana Plantation and then over a fence where you can just see the stones above the long grasses.
The circle that you find however feels all the more magical for the strange journey to reach it. Goodaver dates from bronze age. It sits on a hilltop known as Shepherd’s Hill (1004ft) looking out toward Dozmary Downs and beyond.
The site was ‘restored’ by Rev AH Malan in 1906 when some of the stones were re-erected. There is some debate as to whether they all went back correctly. Some stones are thought to be upside-down or the wrong way round! Perhaps the reverend used a little artistic license . . . or was a little slap-dash.
For me however this didn’t detract from the beauty of the site.
The stones range in height from about 0.8m to around 1.3m and the whole circle is quite large, roughly 32m in diameter. There also seems to be a little debate as to how many stones there are.
I know that I counted them when I visited but can’t remember now. Some books say 23, others 24 or more . . . so it may be a case of see how many you get and leave me a message on here!
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Further reading
For more of Cornwall’s stone circles try:
I provide all the content on this blog completely FREE, there's no subscription fee. If however you enjoy my work and would like to contribute something towards helping me keep researching Cornwall's amazing history and then sharing it with you then you can DONATE BELOW. Thank you!
I think I’ve commented before on one of your previous posts that Bodmin is somewhere we have just driven through on the way to southern Cornwall, but it looks such an interesting place, we really should try to visit
visited this sunday in the mist it is so magical right off access Is the open access not the plantation as its private.