Here's a quote from The Book of Belstone - Chris and Marion Walpole, 2002 - regarding the 'Nine Maidens' circle.
[Admins - should we have this as an alternate name on site page??]
Quote:
The Nine Maidens:
“No-one can be sure how many stones originally formed the circle, but some have been removed for local use; indeed Douglas St Leger-Gordon recorded that the circle proved a godsend to local stone-masons, until steps were taken not long ago to save the remainder (Under Dartmoor Hills, 1954). Most observers in the last century counted 16 or 17 stones (it was sometimes called the Seventeen Brothers), although Dora James wrote, Alas! now [1930] only 13 stones remain intact, four having been wantonly broken and defaced in 1929 – not, surely, by any Belstone hand!
Today up to 20 can be counted, including small stones and five toppled or insecure temporary ones. One of these was added in 1985 by a local film crew who decided to ‘improve’ the layout for a horror movie called The Circle of Doom, which told of a backpacker trapped inside the stones by an invisible force. Fulfilling the prophecy that anyone tampering with the stones will be cursed, the only copy of this film was lost in the post.
Other legends attach themselves to the stones; it is the church bells that bring them to life…… every time you count them you will get a different number……it is noon when they dance….. In fact the stones were placed by Bronze Age man and form the outer wall of a long vanished kistvaen or burial chamber. Victorian archaeologists interpreted the circle as symbolising the sun and full moon. Dowsers have found many energy lines here, most importantly the powerful Michael Line, which narrows from a width of seven metres to a point as it enters the circle.”
[Unquote]
(John Christian of South Tawton had contributed a section on ley lines, explaining that):
Quote:
“….One of the most significant, the Michael Line, passes through St Michael’s Mount, Brentor, Glastonbury Tor, Avebury….. and the Nine Maidens and the tower of Belstone Church. Although the line twists and turns, its alignment coincides, surprisingly, with the rising sun at May Day (Beltane) – the Serpent and the Sun.”
[Hamish Miller’s book about the Michael and Mary lines is called ‘The Sun and the Serpent’ incidentally.] John Christian continues:
“The Mary line, named because of the incidence of churches on the line dedicated to St Mary, also passes through the parish between Cullever Steps and Lady Brook.”
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road