Bodmin Moor

Cornwall  Liskeard  Launceston  King Arthur  Dozmary Pool  Callington  Bodmin

Bodmin Moor is a fascinating area of Cornwall, with many places named after King Arthur   Camelford is to the west; Bodmin to the west, Liskeard to the south, Callington to the east, and Launceston on the east.   It is said that so great is Arthur in local imagination that whatever is great in the landscape, older than anyone can remember, and the use and maker of which is unknown, is thus attributed to Arthur.   The Moor is extensive, wild and lonely. Dotted about it are ancient stone circles, field boundaries, pathways, standing stones, and earthworks.   Trethevy Quoit Trethevy Quoit, 4 miles north of Liskeard, on the south-east side of Bodmin Moor near the villages of Tremar and Darite, used to be known as King Arthur's Quoit. Whether or not it ever had anything to do with king Arthur, who may have visited it. The Quoit appears to be a Neolithic chambered tomb, but even that is uncertain.   The name 'Arthur's Quoit' is in Welsh 'Coeten Arthur'. The word 'quoit' usually means a discus, or a similar solid circular object thrown for sport. But the word is usually applied to a cromlech and probably originally referred to the capstone of such prehistoric structures.   Such rocks features are frequently associated with giants when not being named after Arthur. Arthur is thus identified with giants with the implication that he has giant-like strength to fling these enormous stones for sport.   King Arthur's Downs King Arthur's Downs is an area on Bodmin Moor that may haven been a hunting ground of the great king. It is located just north of King Arthur's Hall.   On the Downs are a pair of stone circles. One circle, to the north-west, is most complete of the two.   It is about 25 feet in diameter. On the northern edge are a couple of impressive upright triangular pyramid stones, with slightly flattened tops. Some of the stones are fallen. There seem to be about nine in all, but were probably more once.   Arthur's Troughs Arthur's Troughs are found on Bodmin Moor in the parish of North Hill, and are reputed to be where Arthur fed his hunting dogs. This legend is linked with King Arthur's Bed.   King Arthur's Bed King Arthur's Bed is a flat outcrop of rock on Bodmin Moor. It is a granite monolith on top of a hill, with a natural hollow in it shaped like a human torso.   The first record of it is found in the the works of an 18th-century Cornish antiquarian, Dr William Borlase (writing in 1754), describes the scene with the following remarks:     'Round Arthur's Bed, on a rocky Tor in the parish of North-hill, there are many [rock-basins], which the country people call Arthur's Troughs, in which he us'd to feed his Dogs.'   Near by also, is Arthur's Hall.   King Arthur's Hall King Arthur's Hall is a fascinating, probably prehistoric, stone enclosure situated on King Arthur's Downs high on Bodmin Moor. This is a mysterious rectangular shaped earthen bank surrounds the stones placed upright around the inner side of the bank. It is about the size of a medieval hall.   The upright granite slabs look like chairs, and even if you go there today, you feel that it looks like a place of council. Children feel drawn to sit in the ancient chairs. Their existence was first recorded in the 16th Century.   Dozmary Pool Dozmary Pool is said to be the waters into which St Bedivere cast Arthur's sword Excalibur at the wishes of the mortally wounded king is the most famous Arthurian place on Bodmin Moor.