Minions Cornwall – Bodmin Moor Village, the Cheesewring & Hurlers Stone Circles

MINIONS & BODMIN MOOR

Prehistoric monuments, granite tors and Cornwall’s mining heritage. Minions, a few miles north of Liskeard on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor, is one of Cornwall’s highest villages – and it boasts the highest pub in Cornwall. Its exposed moorland setting brings together an extraordinary range of heritage: prehistoric stone circles and burial monuments, dramatic granite formations, old tracks across the uplands and the remains of 19th-century copper and tin mining. The village is small, but the landscape around it tells a story stretching across thousands of years.

The open moor can look timeless, yet it has been continually used and reshaped. Neolithic and Bronze Age communities marked places in the landscape with stones and burial mounds; later generations crossed the moor with livestock, worked its mineral deposits and quarried its granite. The remains often stand close together, so a walk from Minions can move from prehistoric ritual monuments to industrial archaeology within a short distance. Weather can change quickly on the high ground, and visitors should keep to safe paths around old workings, quarries and uneven granite.

The Hurlers

Just west of Minions, a short walk from the village car park, stand the Hurlers: three stone circles set in a line running north-east to south-west across the moor. They are among Cornwall’s best-known prehistoric monuments and are generally dated to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, although the precise date and purpose of each circle remain subjects of archaeological interpretation. The circles differ in size and in the number and condition of their surviving stones – the central circle is the best preserved, while most stones of the southern circle have fallen. Stone robbing and grazing cattle have toppled many stones over the centuries, and some missing stones are now marked, so the original appearance of the complex would have been different from what visitors see today.

THE CHEESEWRING

North of Minions, on Stowe’s Hill, the Cheesewring is one of Bodmin Moor’s most recognisable natural landmarks. This dramatic stack of granite slabs balances above the edge of the old Cheesewring Quarry, creating a shape that resembles a pile of cheeses pressed one on top of another. The formation is a product of long-term weathering and erosion acting on jointed granite: the rock has been broken by natural fractures, and weathering has gradually loosened and rounded the blocks, leaving the striking arrangement visible today.

Granite formed when molten rock cooled slowly underground, allowing crystals of quartz, feldspar and mica to grow – Bodmin Moor is one of the granite masses of the Cornubian Batholith, about 290 million years old. Over immense periods, erosion removed the rock above the granite and exposed it at the surface. Water, changes in temperature and chemical weathering exploited existing joints and helped separate blocks. The Cheesewring is therefore not an artificial stack, although quarrying nearby has altered its surroundings. Read more in our Bodmin Moor geology guide.

The walk from Minions is roughly 1.5 kilometres each way, depending on the route taken. On a clear day, the elevated position offers extensive views across Bodmin Moor and towards other parts of Cornwall and Devon. The route can be rough, wet and exposed, so sturdy footwear and weather-appropriate clothing are advisable. Keep away from quarry edges and do not climb the formation: the rocks can be unstable and the drops hazardous.

RILLATON BARROW & THE GOLD CUP

Rillaton Barrow is a substantial Early Bronze Age burial mound near Minions, lying to the north-east of the Hurlers – about 34 metres across and nearly 3 metres high. The barrow is an important reminder that the moor was not simply a place for stone circles and standing stones. Burial mounds marked the dead and could have expressed ancestry, status, memory and connections between communities and particular places. The mound’s prominent position on the skyline also makes it a visible feature of the wider prehistoric landscape.

In 1837, workers digging into the mound for stone discovered a stone burial chamber, or cist, near its eastern side. Accounts of the discovery describe human remains and grave goods, including a bronze dagger, beads and pottery, alongside a remarkable gold cup. The find became known as the Rillaton Gold Cup: a small, ribbed vessel of beaten gold with a riveted handle, whose craftsmanship demonstrates the skill and long-distance connections that existed in Bronze Age Britain.

The finds were sent to King William IV as Duchy treasure, and the cup remained in the royal household. After the death of George V in 1936 it was lent to the British Museum, where it is displayed today, although it still belongs to the Royal Collection. A replica can be seen at the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro. The original burial was disturbed during the 19th-century discovery, and early records are not as detailed as modern archaeological documentation would be. Even so, the find remains one of Cornwall’s most celebrated prehistoric discoveries and places Minions within a wider story of Bronze Age metalworking, exchange and social distinction.

The line through the two northern circles of the Hurlers points towards the barrow on the north-eastern skyline. The alignment has attracted interest, but its meaning should be treated cautiously: prehistoric people clearly shaped and used this landscape, yet the precise relationship between individual monuments is not fully understood.

MINING HERITAGE AT MINIONS

Houseman’s Engine House

The industrial landscape around Minions is dominated by the remains of 19th-century mining. Houseman’s Engine House, just north of the village, was part of the South Phoenix Mine, which began in the 1830s as Wheal Prosper. Engine houses were built to contain steam engines, which powered pumps to remove water from the mine workings or performed other demanding tasks. Their tall masonry walls and distinctive openings were designed around heavy machinery and the forces it generated.

The buildings are not simply picturesque ruins. They represent a period when mining transformed the economy and landscape of the Caradon district. Copper and tin mining required capital, skilled workers, transport and increasingly powerful machinery. Engine houses, shafts, spoil heaps and dressing floors formed connected parts of a large industrial system, much of which is now visible only as archaeological remains.

Houseman’s Engine House formerly housed the Minions Heritage Centre, which explained the area’s mining and social history. The centre closed in early 2020. The Cornwall Heritage Trust took ownership of the building in late 2025 and is working towards its future reopening, but no date has been set – check the current access arrangements rather than assume the building is open.

The bell pits

Across the moor are numerous shallow depressions and disturbed areas associated with early mineral working. Some are bell pits: small, roughly circular workings dug down to reach a mineral deposit close to the surface. Miners dug a shaft or pit and enlarged the working below ground, producing a bell-like shape. Once the workings became unsafe or the accessible ore was exhausted, they were abandoned and often left as hollows in the landscape.

Bell pits are a characteristic form of early mining archaeology, but not every hollow on Bodmin Moor is a bell pit. Natural features, later prospecting, drainage and other industrial activity can create similar marks – small pits and a bank left by post-medieval tin working cross the Hurlers site itself. Where a series of pits follows a line, it may reveal the direction in which miners traced an ore-bearing vein. The pits show that mining did not begin with the great engine houses: people worked mineral resources with simpler methods long before steam power reshaped the district, and later mining could reuse or deepen older workings.

Bell pits are potentially dangerous. Their roofs may have collapsed, and the ground around them can be unstable or conceal openings. Do not enter depressions, climb into old workings or remove stones. Keep to established paths and look at mining remains from a safe distance.

VISITING MINIONS & BODMIN MOOR

Minions is a good base for exploring this combination of prehistoric archaeology, geology and industrial heritage. The Hurlers are close to the village, while the Cheesewring and the nearby quarry landscape can be reached on foot. Rillaton Barrow, the Pipers, Stowe’s Pound, Daniel Gumb’s Cave and the mining remains reward visitors who allow time to explore beyond the best-known viewpoints.

The moor is exposed and the weather can change rapidly. Wear sturdy footwear, carry suitable clothing and a map, and take extra care in mist or poor visibility. Do not climb on standing stones, granite tors or unstable quarry faces. Keep clear of shafts, bell pits and abandoned mine workings, and respect livestock, private land and conservation measures.

Taken together, the monuments and remains around Minions reveal a landscape used for thousands of years. The Hurlers and the Pipers preserve the mystery of prehistoric stone settings; Rillaton Barrow records Bronze Age burial and craftsmanship; the Cheesewring displays the weathering of granite; and the engine houses and bell pits recall the hard work of mining generations. It is this remarkable layering of archaeology, legend, geology and industry that makes Minions one of Bodmin Moor’s most distinctive places.