Boswens Menhir (), also known as Boswens standing stone, or the Long Stone, is a

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

3 kilometres northeast of

St Just in Penwith St Just (), also known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives to the A3 ...

, in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England. The menhir is featured in

Mark Jenkin Mark Jenkin (born 1976) is a Cornish director, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer. He wrote and directed the film '' Bait'' (2019), which earned him a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer ...

's 2022 film ''

Enys Men is a 2022 British experimental psychological folk horror film shot, composed, written and directed by Mark Jenkin, and starring Mary Woodvine, Edward Rowe, Flo Crowe and John Woodvine. Set in 1973, the film follows a lone wildlife volunteer ( ...

''.

Location

The stone lies to the west of Boswens Common,LONG STONE
Pastscape, retrieved 8 November 2013 and can be seen from the B3318 road.Toni-maree Rowe, (2005), ''Cornwall in Prehistory'', page 102. Tempus It is one of many standing stones in

Penwith Penwith (; ) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former Non-metropolitan district, local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one ...

. It is 1.5 km east of Tregeseal stone circle, and about 1 km south of

Chûn Quoit Chûn Quoit is one of the best preserved of all Neolithic quoits (also called dolmens or cromlechs) in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Chûn Quoit is located in open moorland near Pendeen and Morvah. Standing on a ridge, near the m ...

Description

The stone is of rectangular section measuring 0.7 metres by 0.9 metres, and is 2.4 metres high. The front face is symmetrical; at the back there are two steps which reduce the width by half.John Barnatt, (1982), ''Prehistoric Cornwall: The Ceremonial Monuments'', page 233. Turnstone Press. In 1754

William Borlase William Borlase (2 February 169631 August 1772), Cornish antiquary, geologist and naturalist. From 1722, he was Rector of Ludgvan, Cornwall, where he died. He is remembered for his works ''The Antiquities of Cornwall'' (1754; 2nd ed., 1769) a ...

illustrated the stone standing in a small low

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

, but by 1861 there was "hardly any trace of cairn" visible. The cairn today is around 0.3 metres high, and is "only just noticeable". The cairn may be the remains of a barrow.

Notes

External links

Boswens - Standing Stone (Menhir)
at The Megalithic Portal {{European Standing Stones Megalithic monuments in England Stone Age sites in Cornwall Menhirs