If you’ve ever visited the Hurler Stone Circles near Bodmin Moor, you’ll know what a mysterious and thought-provoking place it is to be, but did you know that hidden beneath your feet there is an enigmatic stone “pavement” which runs between the central and northern circles?

A triple stone circle complex on Minions Moor, southeast Bodmin Moor, the Hurlers is one of Cornwall’s most significant ceremonial prehistoric monuments, located within a wider landscape of barrows, cairns, and stone rows. It is one of the 13 historic Cornish sites that the independent charity, Cornwall Heritage Trust cares for.

For centuries ruinous and neglected, the monument was partially restored in the 1930s when excavations discovered this puzzling “pavement” at the site.

Two community archaeology projects, Mapping The Sun in 2013 and Reading the Hurlers in 2016, revealed this fascinating feature once more, as well as investigating the geology of the stones, discovering new sites and carrying out new surveys.

The discoveries unearthed by these two projects were the focus of Cornwall Heritage Trust’s latest Cornish Story Cafe, hosted by Jacky Nowakowski FSA, Archaeologist, Researcher and Educator.

Jacky is a professional archaeologist, who has directed many excavations and landscape surveys in Cornwall over the past 35 years. Formerly Principal Archaeologist at Cornwall Archaeological Unit, Cornwall Council, she now works freelance and her wide and varied career led her to direct these two community archaeology projects at the Hurlers.

They were undertaken as part of the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project, which was funded by the National Heritage Lottery Fund, Cornwall Heritage Trust, Caradon Amateur Geology Group, Saltash geology group U3A, MAGA Cornish Language Partnership, Carnglaze Caverns and Cornwall Archaeological Society.

Cornwall Heritage Trust CEO, Cathy Woolcock said: “The Hurlers is a fascinating monument so it was wonderful to be able to share its story with so many people.

‘‘We would like to say a huge thank you to Jacky for offering her time and expertise, to everyone who joined us and to our new events volunteers who did a fantastic job of helping the evening run smoothly.”

The event was free of charge and Cornwall Heritage Trust members received priority when booking.

The talk was recorded and the film will shortly be available to watch at www.cornwallheritagetrust.org