Page:Cornwall (Salmon).djvu/48

 CORNWALL Megalith'u Remains. — Cornwall is remarkable for its prehistoric remains, particularly those of a megalithic character, and the writings of Borlase, Blight and Lukis may be consulted for precise details of the Cornish monuments ot this character. The whole subject is too vast to be dealt with minutely in these pages, but its importance is sufficiently great to render necessary the following summary account. In the Rev. W. C. Lukis's book on 'The Prckistorii- Stone Monuments of the British Isles : Coniwa//, published by the Society of Anti- quaries of London in 1885, the Cornish circles of monoliths, cists, chambered mounds, holed stones, pillars and dwellings, are admirably de- scribed and figured. The work has been done upon such scientific and precise lines that for the present purpose it seems best to give an epitomised account of the observations therein recorded. The prehistoric monuments of Cornwall consist of : — (i) Circles of stones for the most part of large size, the circles varying in diameter from nearly i 50 feet to about 36 feet. The largest, at Blisland, is popularly known as "The Stripple Stones " and in some respects is the most re- markable of all the ancient stone monuments in the British Isles. A vallum, which appears to have a space on the W. side for an entrance, surrounds the platform on which the circle of stones is situated, and is provided with an in- ternal fosse. In three places the vallum and 30