Duloe

Duloe is a small village 3 miles north of Looe in southeast Cornwall, with a population of around 500 and a Cornish name - Dewlogh - that hints at its long history. Three things draw visitors here: a Bronze Age stone circle, a medieval church with an unusual layout, and a holy well dedicated to St Cuby.

The stone circle stands in a field just south of the churchyard, reached by a signposted track off the B3254. Eight quartz-rich stones form a rough oval about 12 metres across, with the tallest reaching 2.6 metres and weighing up to nine tonnes. Moving stones of that size would have taken teams of 30 to 35 people. The circle is unique in Cornwall for its use of white quartz rather than the granite found in most Cornish monuments. It was first recorded in 1801, and when three fallen stones were re-erected in 1863, excavators found a Bronze Age urn containing cremated human bones. The site is free to visit - park in the village and walk a short distance to the field.

St Cuby’s Church has an unusual plan - the tower stands at the west end of the south transept rather than the conventional west end or centre. Parts of the building date to the early medieval period. Half a mile outside the village toward Looe, St Cuby’s Holy Well sits under a 20th-century granite wellhouse, fed by an underground spring into a square stone basin.

The village sits in a sheltered valley between the coast and the southern edge of Bodmin Moor. Looe and its beaches are a 10-minute drive south, while the moorland landscapes around Minions and the Cheesewring are about 20 minutes north. The Herodsfoot valley to the west has woodland walking trails along the River Looe. For a village of its size, Duloe holds an unusual concentration of archaeology within walking distance.