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tjj wrote: tiompan wrote: tjj wrote: I've been wanting to ask a 'stone related' question ever since I returned from my Irish trip but wondered if it something that didn't apply in the UK. The information boards at all the stone circles visited in West Cork said that they always contained an uneven number of stones. I recall most of the circles in Cornwall are nine or nineteen but in some cases it seemed uncertain if these were the original numbers.
The reason for so many odd numbered stones in the circles could be tht many are recumbent stone circles and the architecure is often that of paired stones plus recumbent which would always produce an odd number . There are four posters in Cork though , Cappaboy Beg ,Gortnacowly , Maughanaclea and another among the other stone circles at Reanascreena .
Thanks Tiompan ... I fully intend to go back to Cork at some point in the future to see all that I missed first time round. I don't think I saw any four posters unless you count Cashelkeelty which was the very first monument visited (almost by accident). Not all the stone circles visited had a recumbent stone although the most famous one, Drombeg, did. I must admit I made no attempt to count the stones on any visit, it was much more about 'sense of place' (as discussed on another thread).
Sanctuary (Roy) - I thought of Duloe quite a lot in Ireland because kept coming across white quartz. Duloe is a stone circle I really want to visit and may manage it later in the year. Boscawen-un also has one white quartz stone which must have been chosen to absorb the sunlight/warmth.
Confession time: on the way back down the wooded slope from Cashelkeelty, I came across a small triangular piece of white quartz embedded in the soil. It came back with me and is now on a ledge in the back garden - it does indeed seem to retain the heat of the sun.
Here's my Fieldnotes on Duloe posted on Thursday June. If you do get down later in the year I'll be happy to pay a visit with you if free.
Duloe Stone Circle. Visit date: 27th June 2012.
There's something about Duloe stone circle that draws me back whenever the opportunity arises and normally that’s when we’re off to Looe for the day. But today it was different as it was a ‘Duloe only’ day with nothing else to sidetrack me.
Parking, unless illegally, is not possible outside of the cutting between the properties leading to the circle, so one has to park in the road behind the close-at-hand St Cuby church where there is a large lay-bye.
Once parked up it’s only a two or three minute walk back to the cut-way which is adequately signed on the roadside opposite.
Always my first impression when approaching the circle is what a little gem it is. Unlike all other stone circles, dolmans, standing stones and burial chambers in Cornwall that are granite, Duloe’s circle is of quartz and must have been quite dazzling on first build. Another obvious peculiarity is that unlike the major large open circles in Cornwall built with mainly smaller stones, this small circle has mainly huge stones in comparison! Does this offer us a clue to its meaning and use I wonder?
The largest or tallest stones lies due south and there are 4 definite ‘compass stones’ to the N,S,E & W and are all the larger ones of the eight present. The very small stone to the south east is an additional stone just placed on the surface in modern times and not part of the original build. I did consider moving it as two other groups of visitors arrived while I was there and par for the course started counting the stones which of course came to nine. I pointed out the error which they thanked me for but if you don’t then of course they go away with a slightly false impression. I left it where it was but it just moves if you touch it anyway so won’t fool many at this time. I’d like to know where it came from though and if it was off one of the others or just a random chunk dug up in the field.
Historically a bank/hedge ran either through the middle or part of the circle at some stage but it’s difficult to say now in what direction or what ‘gaps’ in passed through, although the fallen stone may offer a clue. While mentioning the prostrate stone you will note from the old black & white photo that it lay in a hollow or depression and this ‘may’ have been created when the bank was removed. Today the depression can still be seen but has silted up considerably since the old photo was taken.
Direction wise just take the road from Liskeard to Looe (well signposted from Liskeard) and Duloe is 5 miles out from Liskeard or about 4 miles from Looe. As you come into Duloe from Liskeard the Old Plough Horse pub is on the left and a tad further on the cutting to the circle is on the same side but indicated by a sign on the RHS of the road. Just pass this and the church is on the right that you can park behind. Well worth the visit and a must if you are in the area. As I said, a little gem.
Here are a few photos including an ‘aerial’ I took. An interesting stone is the third and fourth one shown as I had a really close look at it this time because I've always suspected it was 'worked'. It has a large 'scallop' out of the lower section as you'll see with definite small grooves running upwards/downwards and may have been a sharpener/polisher for nothing larger than arrowheads and the main scallop for general smoothing.
https://picasaweb.google.com/100525707086862773355/DuloeStoneCircle02?authkey=Gv1sRgCJf8xNmw6q2n8wE#
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