Trippet Stones
The stone circle known as the Trippet Stones is an impressive site in open moorland on the lonely expanses of Manor Common in Blisland. Like many other stone circles, its name implies dancing and this may be a ‘folk memory’ of one of the original functions of such sites.
The name Trippet is another folklore allusion to dancing, an activity commonly connected to groups of Neolithic and Bronze Age stones and allegedly deemed punishable by an angry God. As with the Merry Maidens and the Nine Maidens, moral-laden cautionary tales warn us that these stones were once young girls dancing on the Sabbath instead of attending to their religious duties.
This fine stone circle originally consisted of 26 or 27 uprights but now only 11 remain, eight of which are still standing and three fallen. This is one of the few truly circular stone circles in Cornwall; the remaining uprights are all approximately the same height and the site would originally have appeared very regular and symmetrical. The small central stone is a modern boundary post.
- Trippet stone circle with Roughtor and Brown Willy in the Distance
- Trippet stone circle with Hawks Tor in the distance