The Crystal Pavement at the Hurlers

Crystal Pavement at the Hurlers

In mid-September 2013 Cornwall Historic Environment Projects, led by archaeologist James Gossip, unearthed an antiquity in the Minions area not seen since 1938 - but believed to be some 4000 years older than that. This was the so-called Crystal Pavement, linking the two standing stone circles of the Hurlers. I visited the site a couple of times during excavation and was disappointed for several reasons. As you can see from the photo, the weather was rather misty, not conducive to photos. Because of the name, I had expected the pavement to be of quartz; instead it was simply of the local granite with no suggestion of crystal to it. It was also shorter in length than I has expected, failing to reach either of the circles; I am sure the 1938 photo shows a longer, more complete length of pavement. I also felt that, considering that we taxpayers were footing the bill, the site was not very visitor friendly. I felt guilty about asking permission to enter the site to get photos but it certainly wasn't possible to take them through the security fence. The fully excavated pavement only remained fully visible overnight; the next day it was covered again so there is nothing to see now.

Unearthing the Crystal Pavement

More information see Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project