A single block of local shale on St Breock Downs, this standing stone toppled in 1945 and went back up eleven years later
Open accessfree to visit at any reasonable time
Standing remainssubstantial fabric survives to stand in front of
Bronze Age people raised this stone sometime between 2500 and 1500 BC, and it ranks today as Cornwall’s largest and heaviest standing stone. It once stood close to five metres tall; today it leans to about three, having toppled over in 1945 and been re-erected in 1956. That dig found the stone set in a bed of quartz pebbles over two small hollows; archaeologists have found the same combination elsewhere marking buried human bone or ashes. What standing stones like this one were actually for is still unclear, though barrows and other stones scattered for miles to the west suggest this stretch of moor mattered to Bronze Age people. It’s free to see, a short walk from the road, with Pawton Quoit a mile or so further on.
Full name: Standing stone 815m west of St Breock Downs Farm
More at the National Heritage List entry
