St Breock Downs bear witness to human activity and ritual going back almost 5000 years with standing stones and barrows scattered across the area.
It is an obvious high point for the location of a survey pillar almost 90 years ago. Visiting this Trig Pillar will first take you to a huge ancient standing stone erected here in the neolithic or bronze age era. The area is all designated as Open Access Land and the Saints Way footpath from Padstow to Fowey also passes close by.
BE WARNED - after rain and during the winter months, the area is very wet and muddy - at the time of setting the cache, I needed to wear wellies to keep my feet dry (see photo in the gallery)
The St Breock Monolith
Begin your mini adventure by parking at the designated parking coordinates - parking closer to the trig pillar may well impede the agricultural traffic of the nearby farm so please park as suggested. There are occupied properties further down the road you are parked alongside so please leave space for passing traffic.
At the parking coordinates, walk along the track (can be muddy) towards the large monolith that is visible about 50 metres to the south. A grass track off to the right will take you to an information board and the monolith which is a massive chunk of local slate stone with veins of feldspar. It is hard to resist placing your hands on the stone and imagining how many others have done so before you over the last 4000 years.
The Cache
Wak on past the monolith towards the concrete building ( a reservoir) until you see a narrow grassy path heading south again towards the headline coordinates. Take this path until you come to a tarmac lane. Ahead of you, across the lane, is a wide but very wet and muddy track along which you need to go to reach the trig pillar which you can see ahead of you. When the cache was set, this track was passable only in wellies.!!
In the summer months, the pillar may well be surrounded by vegetation and brambles but do persevere - the cache is close to the pillar.
Sadly, the area around the pillar has been used as a general dumping ground for unwanted farming detritus, building materials and piles of mixed earth and stone. The general area is thick with brambles and gorse bushes and I could find no other path to the trig pillar other than as described above.
There are magnificent views across Cornwall from this location with Brown Willy and Rough Tor clearly visible in the distance.
The cache is a medium sized tube hidden to the rear of the trig pillar - please recover it well after signing the log. The is room for small TBs and Geocoins.
About Ye Ole Survey Monuments
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Ye Ole Survey Monument (YOSM) is a captivating series of caches that pays homage to the remarkable legacy of OutForTheHunt's YSM series (GC45CC).
YOSM caches are strategically positioned at or near Trig Points. These triangulation stations have played a pivotal role as surveying landmarks, contributing to the mapping of expansive territories.
Some of these points, bearing historical significance, might now be situated on private land or have vanished with time. As a result, the caches are artfully placed in close proximity, reverently acknowledging the historical importance of these survey monuments.
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More information, bookmarks and statistics can be found at the YOSM Website
If anybody would like to expand the Ye Ole Survey Monuments Series, please do.
I would ask that you request a number for your cache first at www.yosm.org.uk
so we can keep track of the numbers and names to avoid duplication.