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England
Zennor QuoitDolmen / Quoit / Cromlech
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| I have to concur with Carl on this one, it really was a trial to find. This was however confounded by a really thick mist that had been hanging around the peninsular for two days (in late July!) and I think if I hadn't had an OS map I might never have found it. Starting from the car park at Zennor I crossed the main road near the telephone box and took the footpath that runs along the bottom of the hill and I remember wondering at the time whether there were any snakes around? We'd already seen a number of very small lizards on the cliff path to Gurnards Head when just in time I stopped myself from stepping on an Adder at the side of the path! Usually when I've encountered them in the past they slither off as soon as they know they've been spotted, but this one stood its ground and even allowed me to get relatively close to take its portrait! Having jumped over it I carried on along the path when, blow me, I encountered another which, thankfully, disappeared into the undergrowth. Passing the farm buildings I then started to make my way up the hill towards the Logan Stone but having reached the top, encountering yet another adder, I found myself completely disorientated because I couldn't work out where the sun was due to the mist and wandered around for about half an hour becoming increasingly panicky. Then, just as I was about to despair and make my way back down, there was a very brief break in the mist across the moorland and I could just about discern what must surely be Zennor Quoit about 300m away. Rechecking the map as the mist rolled relentlessly back in I made a mad dash to get there and felt a huge relief as it came into view just the other side of a low stone wall through the ferns and gorse. My first reaction on coming up close to it was its sheer size, it had looked quite insubstantial from a distance, but this really is a whopper and quite beautifully constructed. I didn't realise the significance of the 5 pillars alongside it at the time so I was quite intrigued by them and also the tiny holes which appear all over the structure. I think the combination of it being hidden in the swirling mist and having had to really struggle to find it gave it a special kind of significance for me and it presented itself as a reward if you see what I mean. Well worth visiting but I would advise anyone attempting to find it in adverse weather conditions to have a map and a compass...... oh, and look out for snakes. |
Posted by A R Cane13th August 2011ce Edited 2nd January 2012ce |
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Visited 11.4.10. What a walk to get to this place!!! Probably the worst 'path' I have ever had to follow to get to a site. Firstly, very difficult to park on the B3306 where the 'path' starts from - opposite a house. I eventually found a grass verge to pull over on about 100 metres down from the house. First the good news, the start of the path is easily seen. However, from there on things get worse! Follow the 'path' up the hill - heading towards the derelict farm buildings on the brow of the hill. The 'path' gets narrower and narrower and the bloody gorse gets higher and higher. As you near the farm buildings the path takes a sharp left and the 'path' is now about 8 inches wide, with gorse at chest height. No other option but to take a deep breath, hold your arms up out of the way and battle through it!! Painful. Things then improve a bit and you finally reach the quoit, the other side of a crumbling stone field wall. The site itself is clear and despite what I have said, well worth the effort and pain to visit if you are physically able to do so. There are 3 fairly large standing stones next to the quoit and the slant of the capstone is definitely worth seeing! I couldn't squeeze through the very small gap to get inside the quoit. It took me 25 minutes to walk from the road to the quoit. |
Posted by CARL 20th April 2010ce |
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This was to be our last site before heading home, but will be remembered most. This must be the biggest capstone round here. Just how did they get it up? Crazy. We parked on the B3306 and followed the path south (not easy going at all). It went this way, then that way, and I wondered if we were on the right one, but it got us there in there end. After the long hard walk I was surprised to find other people there. They sat on one side and we had the other. After a while we went over to the rocks by Sperris Quoit (didn't go to it though 'cause it's unrecognisable as a quoit). The rock's were really stone island's in a sea of bracken and thorny gorse. Not wanting to retrace our steps, I decided to cut through it straight to the car. Big mistake! With a 7yr old on my shoulders and a 4 year old in my arms, it felt like an army yomp and I came last. Damn gorse cut me to shreds but I did see a smooth lizard for the first time ever. Karma's a funny thing isn't it. PS. Why dont they get rid of the cow shed stones? |
Posted by postman4th August 2006ce Edited 14th August 2006ce |
| I love this place! Came here with the wind blowing and heavy rain soaking me through. I sheltered in the old mine buildings on my way up from the 'Eagles Nest'... with night falling I sat with my back against the huge upright and sank into nothingness. Inside was where the ancients were laid to rest and in my thoughts I allowed myself to fall through that big piece of granite and sit with the old ones... with them I spoke and with them I knew all would be well... |
Posted by paul197012th February 2005ce Edited 14th August 2006ce |
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How has the quoit changed in appearance since it was built? Are Borlase's sketch and Craig Weatherhill's drawing in Cornovia anything like the original? Why would people with not a lot of free time on their hands find or fashion tapered stones and then balance a 10 ton capstone on what in comparison is a needle? Why take on a huge amount of work to get an inferior end product? Where is the back support, the stone in-situ is to short to put the capstone any where near level. What filled the gaps between a level capstone and the tapered side stones? Besides the capstone sinking into the ground somewhat and maybe shifting to the north I feel the the quoit is as the builders wanted it. |
Posted by Clive Williams 27th June 2004ce |
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We have to thank Borlase for saving this monster, imagine what it must have been like before the farmer got going with his tools. Whats left of the capstone is massive, stretched myself up it but I am lost against it. Thought about climbing it then thought best not, respect. For the first time today the helicopters have arrived, just when I was enjoying the peace. This post appears as part of the weblog entry The Quoits of Penwith
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Posted by Mr Hamhead30th January 2004ce |
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This was our first site on our Cornish trip, and was an excellent start. The size of this monument is quite something - I'd certainly not imagined it to be so big. Luckily I had re-read the fieldnotes for this site and didn't mistake the posts for anything significant, and so was able to impress Ursula with my knowledge. She was a bit taken aback in fact, as she had also thought the semi-constructed cowshed was part of this ancient monument ;-) This post appears as part of the weblog entry Fogou freak-out and other fantastic tales
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Posted by IronMan11th May 2003ce |
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Visited 04/11/01CE. We visited Zennor a little unprepared, not having re-read the info in TMA or any other publication. So, I was completely in awe of the semi-constructed cow shed (In 1861, a farmer started pulling Zennor apart to build a cow shed, the 3 posts in front of Zennor being as far as he got before Rev.W.Borlase bribed him out of it for 5 shillings) and unaware that Zennor had been tampered with at all, it could have meant to look like that for all I knew. We crawled inside and I put the 'Odin' CD on the crap little speakers I'd been carrying around. 45 minutes later, we were leaning against the South side, huddled up watching the sun fall, with 'Odin' still undulating quietly from inside. After our first day's walking it was a real treat to hang up there, completely undisturbed except for the rumblings of the Oldfather and the odd snatch of speech from people over at the Logan Stone. The view from Zennor towards the sunset had all the promise of a great cosmic event, but we were nervous about getting back to the hotel safely so we set off before the sun met the horizon. With 'Odin' continuing to ommm-out from my bag, we began the walk back down to Wicca. This post appears as part of the weblog entry Visit to Land's End, 03-08/11/01ce
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Posted by Holy McGrail29th November 2001ce Edited 5th May 2007ce |
| It took me ages to find this one, but the description in The Modern Antiquarian intrigued me so I kept going, and I'm so glad I did. These stones are HUGE! It is extremely secluded and wildly atmospheric. Because it's such a lonely spot it's easy to sit down and imagine what it would have once been like. For anyone who goes in for meditating, this is a superb place to do it. The vibes are right, the atmosphere is right, and the stones still give off incredible energy. The Cornish quoits are all so incredible, and even though this one has fallen, it is no less incredible. |
Posted by Summer 16th June 2000ce |
Folklore |
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"I was in the neighbourhood of Zennor in 1859, and by accident came across the Zennor cromlech, and was struck with the mode of its construction (not having heard of its existence before), and thinking it bore some resemblance to the Druidical altars I had read of, I inquired of a group of persons who were gathered round the village smithery, whether any one could tell me anything respecting the heap of stones on the top of the hill. Several were in total ignorance of their existence. One said, 'Tes caal'd the gient's kite; thas all I knaw.' At last, one more thoughtful, and one who, I found out, was considered the wiseacre and oracle of the village, looked up and gave me this important piece of information, --'Them ere rocks were put there afore you nor me was boern or thoft ov; but who don it es a puzler to everybody in Sunnur (Zennor). I de bleve theze put up theer wen thes ere wurld was maade; but wether they was or no don't very much mattur by hal akounts. Thes I'd knaw, that nobody caant take car em awa; if anybody was too, they'd be brot there agin. Hees an ef they wus tuk'd awa wone nite, theys shur to be hal rite up top o' th hil fust thing in morenin. But I caant tel ee s' much as Passen can; ef you 'd zea he, he 'd tel he hal about et.'" From Robert Hunt's "Popular Romances of the West of England. Volume 1". 1903. |
Posted by stubob28th March 2005ce Edited 15th June 2005ce |
| Said to have been erected by a giant (hence the local name of the ‘Giant’s Quoit’) and also to be immovable. if the stones of the quoit are taken away they will come back by themselves. The area of Zennor also has the almost obligatory Arthurian tradition. When this stretch of coast was invaded by the Danes, the King and his men defeated the invaders at Vellan, west of Pendeen. |
Posted by pure joy19th March 2003ce |
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This is a quote from J O Halliwell's 'Rambles in Western Cornwall' (1861):Zennor Cromlech was lately very nearly being transformed into another and very different kind of habitation to that intended by its original constructors. The following paragraph appeared in the Cornish Telegraph of Sept. 4th, 1861: 'Zennor Quoit, one of our local antiquities, has recently had a narrow escape. It consists of seven stones, one of which is a large granite slab which lies in a slanting position against the tallest of the uprights. A farmer had removed a part of one of the upright pillars, and drilled a hole into the slanting quoit, in order to erect a cattle-shed, when news of the Vandalism reached the ears of the Rev. W. Borlase, vicar of Zennor, and for five shillings the work of destruction was stayed, -- the vicar having thus strengthened the legend that the quoit cannot be removed.I actually took this from a review of the book in the 1862 'Archaelogia Cambriensis' journal, which is online at Google Books. |
Posted by Rhiannon21st July 2007ce Edited 21st July 2007ce |
Grinsell notes (in 'Folklore of Prehistoric Sites in Britain') that an attempt to remove the Quoit in 1861 was thwarted by the efforts of the Reverend W. Borlase, the then vicar of Zennor. Good for you, vicar. Perhaps this was the same incident as the "unsuccessful attempt to break open the tomb with gunpowder in the 19th century by a farmer who wanted to build a shed," mentioned by Castleden in his 'Neolithic Britain'. He also adds a comment from Borlase:It is very unlikely that ever the cromlech should have been an altar for sacrifice, for the top of it is not easily to be got upon, much less a fire to be kindled on it, sufficient to consume the victim, without scorching the Priest that officiated, not to mention the horrid Rites which the Druid was attended, and which there is not proper room, nor footing to perform in so perilous a station. It is a Sepulchral Monument.One can surely imagine the reverend hoiking himself up on top of the quoit and balancing precariously there before coming up with his theory. |
Posted by Rhiannon 28th July 2005ce |
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