Launceston and The Hurlers
Set on a large natural mound, Launceston Castle dominates the surrounding landscape. Begun soon after the Norman Conquest, its focus is an unusual keep consisting of a 13th-century round tower built by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, inside an earlier circular shell-keep. The tower top can be reached via an internal staircase but once reached, offers breathtaking views of the historic town and countryside. (See below)
Once the administrative headquarters for the Earl of Cornwall, it was a significant location where control could be kept over the various estates in the area.
The castle has a colourful history as a prison of which George Fox, founder of the Quakers, was the most famous prisoner. He suffered harsh confinement here in 1656. Launceston Castle was also used as the base for the Cornish Royalist defence of the county
Prince Charles was officially proclaimed Duke of Cornwall at Launceston Castle in 1973. As part of his feudal dues there was a pair of white gloves, gilt spurs and greyhounds, a pound of pepper and cumin, a bow, one hundred silver shillings, wood for his fires, and a salmon spear.
Part of the Southern gatehouse now used as the approach from the town.
This old water pump is in the grounds of the castle but so far I have no information as to date etc.
Approaches to the castle
So that's how it worked! Plaque on the castle wall.
The Church of St Mary Magdalene stands in the very centre of the medieval town of Launceston, watched over by the ruins of the 12th-century castle. Completed in 1524, the exterior granite stonework exhibits supremely intricate carvings, which Buckler details very well in his drawing. The tower is said to have held the first public clock in Cornwall, which was installed in 1431. Records show that the clock face was renovated in 1888 for the sum of £58 17s 6d by a Birmingham clock restorer.
Some 150 prehistoric stone circles have been identified in England, of which 16 are to be found on Bodmin Moor, the largest of the Cornish granite uplands. Of these, The Hurlers are the most fascinating.
The close grouping of three Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age stone circles is extremely rare in England, but a grouping of three such regular circles is unique.
The monument, which was excavated in the 1930s, consists of three adjacent stone circles aligned north-east to south-west. To the west is a pair of outlying upright stones standing close together, known as the Pipers.
Of the northern circle 15 original stones are visible, and excavation revealed the buried holes for a further ten, now represented by marker stones. The regular spacing of the stones suggests there would have been five more, giving 30 in all.
A strip of granite paving, found in excavation, ran between this and the central circle.
The central circle, the best preserved of the three, has 14 original stones and 14 markers. All the stones were hammered smooth, and the chippings were deposited nearby. The southern circle, which has not been excavated, is the least well preserved: it has nine original stones of which seven have fallen.
Stone robbing has damaged all the circles to some extent, while the introduction of cattle on to Bodmin Moor has resulted in many of the stones falling over: cows use them as scratching posts, eroding the ground and undermining them.
The small pits visible within the southern and central circles, and a slight bank crossing the central circle, are the remains of post-medieval tin mining.
Some more of the stones.
The day that we arrived at Minion (yes, really!) it was dull, there was not a hint of bright weather, this just gave the area a real dramatic atmosphere.
This rugged, windswept and mostly treeless area sits high up in a remote but beautiful corner of Bodmin Moor. Rising dramatically from the surrounding plain, the granite dome of Caradon Hill dominates the area and is encircled by engine houses, chimney stacks, thousands of tonnes of waste rock from the various mines and quarries, and the trackbed of the Liskeard & Caradon Railway.
This is a story of boom and bust: the rise of copper mining here established new settlements and expanded others, but the explosion of mining activity within this formerly isolated landscape was to last barely 50 years; large-scale mining for copper had essentially ceased by 1890.
The remoteness of the area means it is a wonderful place to escape the crowds, cycling or on foot, and discover wide open moorland, unique natural habitats, and ancient and industrial landscapes.
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