Page:VCH Cornwall 1.djvu/474

 A HISTORY OF CORNWALL shows the same stones standing then as now ; but of the nine stones then prostrate five have disappeared. WENDRON No. Remarks Height Breadth Thicknes* No. Remarks Height Breadth Thicknets ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. ft. in. I 3 4 2 I 3 6 in hedge 5 o I 10

2 leans in 3 5 2 6 4 7

4 o 2 8

3 3 6 2 2 4 8

3 10 2 3

4 3 o 2 6 7 5 3 8 3 7 i Four miles south of Redruth, on the road to Helston, is a piece of waste land called Nine Maidens Downs, and at the southern end of this in a grass field, close to two cottages, are the remains of two circles, known locally as the Nine Maidens. They are situated in Wendron parish, and as ' Nine Maidens ' is a generic term they are usually dis- tinguished by the name of the Wendron Circles. Five stones remain in the southern and smaller circle and only three in the other. The southern circle probably had a diameter of 5 1 ft. and consisted of about fourteen stones ; those that remain are of granite and well cut, though the largest is only 3 ft. 8 in. high. Another stone once stood at the point marked (a) in plan E; it was subsequently removed to (b), and has now dis- appeared. A hedge crosses this circle, but there do not appear to be any more stones in the hedge or on the north side of it, in land formerly waste, but now enclosed and cultivated. The northern circle is repre- sented by three stones built into hedges, but in Dr. Borlase's day there were ten of them ; it was perhaps 60 ft. in diameter. Dr. Borlase's account is contained in his MS. Parochial Memoirs (1738) quoted by Lukis and Borlase. 1 He tells us that there were ' two incomplete Circles of stones erect, the southernmost having 8 large stones from 4 to 7 feet high still standing ; one or two gone ; the other larger in circumference, having 10 stones still to be seen, two of which are large and tall ; most of the rest fallen.' Hals is quaint and inaccurate as usual. He says : ' In another part of this parish, by the post road, or highway, are set up, in perpendicular manner, about ten feet asunder in a line, nine large moor stones commonly called the Nine Maids, or Virgin Sisters ; probably set up in memory of so many sister nuns heretofore interred there.' 8 Lukis and Borlase give plan, sketches and description of these monuments. There are no menhirs near to or visible from this place ; a barrow stood 20 or 30 yards to the west and another is to be seen on a hill, called Hangman's Barrow, about 1,000 yards in the same direction. 1 Prehistoric Monuments, 29. ' D. Gilbert, Paroch. Hist, of Cornwall (1838), ii. 137. 388