Nine Maidens stone circle

The Nine Maidens is a Bronze Age stone circle near Belstone on Dartmoor in Devon. Sixteen stones still stand in an incomplete ring on the western slope of Belstone Tor. The circle sits in an area of clitter, where loose rocks litter the ground. None of the stones rise above one metre, and the circle measures about seven metres across. Samuel Rowe described them in 1848 as no higher than two and a half feet. The missing seventeenth stone may have fallen long ago, leaving the circle as it appears today. The site once served as a burial chamber, though its cist has been destroyed. Locals believe the stones dance at noon and fear tampering brings curses. In 1985 a film crew added a stone and lost their only copy of The Circle of Doom. A ley-line named after St Michael passes through the circle, linking Land’s End to Norfolk. Folklore claims the stones were nine maidens punished for dancing on the Sabbath. Some say the nearby church bells bring them to life each day. Visitors walk up the steep slope to reach the circle, where the small stones stand close together. The view looks out over Belstone Tor and the surrounding moorland. The air often shimmers above the ground, making the stones seem to move. Nearby, a small grave circle called Nine Stones is said to dance at noon. The landscape is quiet except for the wind across the heath. The stones remain as they have for centuries, silent witnesses to old stories.