SaintFamous
Piran's Millstone
Tied to a millstone and thrown in. He floated.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- Stone cross and buried oratory site in dunes
- Legend from
- Medieval saint's legend
- Best time
- 5 March
- Tone
- Curious
They threw him off a cliff tied to a millstone. The stone floated.
St Piran's flag is now the flag of Cornwall. Robert Hunt tells how Irish kings condemned him to be thrown off a cliff with a millstone tied round his neck. As the stone fell, the storm stopped and the sun came out, and Piran floated safely across the sea on it, landing on the sands now named after him on 5 March. Legend says he built his oratory in the dunes of Penhale Sands. Buried by drifting sand, it was uncovered in 1835. St Piran's Cross stands nearby, and on 5 March thousands march across the dunes to it.