The Merry Maidens

The Merry Maidens is a Late Neolithic stone circle standing in a field two miles south of St Buryan in Cornwall. It has nineteen granite stones about 1.2 metres high arranged in a circle roughly 24 metres across. The tallest stone reaches 1.4 metres and there is a larger gap on the east side. A single stone to the south may mark a north–south line. The Pipers, two taller standing stones 300 metres away, complete the scene. The circle is thought to be complete and has been studied since the 18th century. William Borlase first examined it in 1769 and his descendant William C. Borlase described the area in 1872. Hugh Hencken wrote the first modern scientific report in 1932. John Barnatt’s study in 1982 suggested the circle originally had eighteen stones, later altered in the 19th century. A second circle once stood 200 metres away but vanished by the end of the 19th century. Visitors find the circle beside the B3315 road between Newlyn and Land’s End. The stones stand in grassland with clear spacing between them. The Pipers rise prominently to the northeast, linked by legend to the dancing maidens. Nearby is the Tregiffian Burial Chamber, adding to the prehistoric landscape. The setting remains quiet and open, allowing the stones to be seen clearly against the sky.