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Land's End Peninsula Image © Royal Institution of Cornwall Also known as: West Penwith See individual sites for details News (9) Images (1) Fieldnotes (1) Folklore (1) Miscellaneous (1) Links (12) 13 discussion topics Start a topic Show  |  Hide Web searches for Land's End Peninsula Flickr Google Google Images Stone Pages Wikipedia

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News

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Ancient site set for excavation Not sure where this site is, except that it is near Lanyon..... A glimpse into Cornish life 3,500 years ago is on offer next weekend as an archaeological investigation is carried out at one of the county's most important heritage sites... continues... Comments (6)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by moss 3rd September 2011ce

New Books http://www.cornisharchaeology.org.uk/index_htm_files/Rough%20ground%20volumes%20-%20flyer.pdf Two new books are to be released this month by the Cornwall Historic Enviroment team. One looks at the landscape and archaeology of the West Penwith moors whilst the other may raise a few eyebrows here..its about managing the landscape in the far west. Cows and stones...do they mix? Comments (1)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Mr Hamhead 3rd May 2011ce

Penwith Moors cattle and fencing Barbed wire fencing is being erected across West Penwith (around Tregeseal and Nine Maidens/Lanyon areas in particular) with a view to introducing more cattle to areas where prehistoric sites stand. See the following links: http://www.stonepages... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by thesweetcheat 27th January 2009ce Edited 27th January 2009ce

Protection in West Penwith My latest issue of the Cornwall Archeological Societys newsletter has a nice feature on the work of the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network. http://www.cornishancientsites.com/index... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Mr Hamhead 3rd February 2007ce

Cornish Barrow was not sold Extracts from the full article at www.thisiscornwall.co... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by cookieneil 27th September 2003ce Edited 27th September 2003ce

Cornish Barrow To Go For Auction http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,6903,1032434,00.html Budding archaeologists and historians will get a chance to bid for their own slice of ancient history next month, when one of the biggest Bronze Age barrows in Cornwall is put up for auction. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by BrigantesNation 1st September 2003ce Edited 12th November 2003ce

Latest news on 'Cornish barrow for sale’ Following my enquiry about the ‘Cornish barrow for sale’, I had a pleasant surprise yesterday. A fax from Nic Potter (the present owner)... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by pure joy 2nd August 2003ce

More details for prospective burial chamber buyers From Western Morning News http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Rhiannon 27th June 2003ce

Burial chamber for sale http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3010974.stm One of the biggest Bronze Age burial chambers in Cornwall has been put on the market for £150,000... continues... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Rhiannon 23rd June 2003ce

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Fieldnotes

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Visit to Land's End, 03-08/11/01ce. See individual sites for more detailed notes. Determined to combine a much-needed break with a trip to some stones, Abbie and I booked a few nights at Channings Hotel[*1] in St. Ives. We bought Landranger map 203 and hurriedly poured over it on the train on the way down as we didn't have much time to plan before we set off, just time to print off a list of sites within 50km of the hotel's postcode. There was so much to check out and we were without a car so we had to plan quite carefully. The first whole day down there (04/11/01CE), we took in the Coastal Path walk west of St. Ives, with the intention of heading off to Zennor Quoit when we got round far enough. This plan went a bit awry when we got lost on the Coastal Path(!) so we just headed to the right of Rosewall Hill. We ended up clocking in around 10 miles that day, taking in Zennor Quoit but unable to locate Sperris Quoit. Day 2 (05/11/01CE), and we hobbled around St. Ives. My legs ached too much from trekking about. I picked up Journey To The Stones by Ian McNeil Cooke (he was briefly featured in the Modern Antiquarian film, with Julian at Boleigh Fogou) and Myths and Legends of Cornwall by Craig Weatherhill and Paul Devereux (after reading his Places of Power I thought I'd be in safe hands). Journey To The Stones proved absolutely indispensible - it focuses on 9 different walks across the Land's End, taking in everything you'd expect and more, and backing it up brilliantly with loads of information on the fall of the Motherculture, the influence of the sun and moon, christianised sites, ancient trackways, stone crosses etc. etc. etc. Wonderful. Day 3 (06/11/01CE), and we get a mini-cab[*2] to Keigwin near Morvah (about £15 from St. Ives) to start an abridged version of Cooke's Walks 4 & 2, taking in Chun Quoit, Chun Castle, Men-an-Tol, Men Scryfa (didn't get near it - the cows fancied us), Nine Stones of Boskednan, Bosiliack Barrow and Lanyon Quoit. All in all, we walked for around 5 hours, getting picked up by a cab at Morvah at sundown. Day 4 (07/11/01CE). We took the bus from St. Ives to Penzance and changed there to take the Land's End bus, getting off at St. Buryan. On the way we spotted the Drift Stones from the road, and a couple of other stones marked on the OS map simply as 'Standing Stone'. From St Buryan we did a circular walk to take in Boskawen-Un, having to negotiate a stream and an electric fence whilst still (as far as we could tell) following the footpaths marked on the OS map. Returning to St Buryan's, we recharged and for our final stretch we took what looked like an achievable section of Cooke's Walk 8 ... Tregiffian, The Merry Maidens and The Pipers. By the time we'd done those, it was already getting dark and our London legs couldn't hack the walk down to Boleigh Fogou. We cabbed back to Penzance (about £8) and got the bus back to St. Ives. Even though we cheated in places, I was still amazed by the proximity of these sites and consequently how much we managed to see. If we'd have had a few more days (and didn't need any R'n'R) we could have taken in almost every site in the Land's End and done it mostly on foot. It was the first 'field trip' we'd taken, and it took us a while to get used to basic things like the scale of a map - ie what was achievable and what wasn't - but it was inspiring and we'll definitely be doing similar trips in the future. Notes: [1] I would have added our hotel as a facility to this site but there are so many places to stay down there that you're better off just checking out Cornwall Online (http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk) and finding somewhere suitable for where you want to base yourself. [2] Whilst I'm a bit of a cab-addict in London, out-of-season St. Ives is only served by a bus to Penzance, so for car-less people wanting to go elsewhere we had no choice. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Holy McGrail 29th November 2001ce Edited 25th November 2002ce

Folklore

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GARRACK ZANS - VILLAGE RITUAL STONES Whilst scouring my lil' collection of Cornish literature for any interesting references to visits, folklore &c, I found the following in William Bottrell's "Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (2nd series)". referencing a tradition of meeting stones, known as Garrack Zans: it doesn't have any proveable prehistory but looks damn likely to be a really late survivor of megalithic tradition, and thus very much of interest; brackets are mine. "Within the memory of many persons now living, there was to be seen, in the town-places of many western villages, an unhewn table like stone called the Garrack Zans. This stone was the usual meeting place of the villagers, and regarded by them as public property. Old residents in Escols (Escalls, near Sennen) have often told me of one which stood near the centre of that hamlet on an open space...(this) they described as nearly round, about three feet high, and nine in diameter, with a level top. A bonfire was made on it and danced around at Mid-summer. When petty offences were committed by unknown persons, those who wished to prove their innocence, and to discover the guilty, were accustomed to light a furse-fire on the Garrick Zans: each person who assisted took a stick of fire from the pile, and those could extinguish the fire in their sticks, by spitting on them, were deemed innocent; if the injured handed a fire-stick to any persons, who failed to do so, they were declared guilty. Most evening young persons, linked hand in hand, danced around the Garrack Zans, and many old folks passed around it nine times daily from some notion that it was lucky and good against withcraft. The stone now known as Table-men was called the Garrack Zans by old people of Sennen. If our traditions may be relied on, there was also in Treen a large one, around which a market was held in days of yore... There was a Garrack Zans in Sowah (Ardensawah near St.Buryan) only a few years since, and one may still be seen in Roskestal, St. Levan. Nothing seems to be known respecting their original use; yet the significant name, and a belief - that it is unlucky to remove them, denote that they were once regarded as sacred objects." Bottrell's work first appeared in 1873, from tales collected by him in the quarter century preceding; thus the Garrack Zans was a central feature up until at least about 1800. Questions arising; 1 - the etymology of the name? (Obviously Careg, Carrick in the first instance - but Zans?) 2 - Is the Table-men still extant in Sennen? I would imagine it to be in Churchtown rather than Cove...and indeed that in Roskestal, a small farmstead? Comments (7)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by chris s 8th December 2007ce Edited 9th December 2007ce

Miscellaneous

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A warning for TMA-ers! From "Churches of West Cornwall with Notes on the Antiquities of the District" - J.T. Blight, from the preface to the second edition (published 1884 after Blight's death): "By Mr. Blight's death Archaeology has lost not only an enthusiastic student, but a hard worker, and it is much to be feared that his too eager devotion to his favourite pursuit amidst his daily toil brought on the illness which had so sad a termination." Don't say we haven't been warned. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by thesweetcheat 21st January 2009ce

Links

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Save Penwith Moors New website for the campaign group; Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by moss 8th May 2011ce Edited 8th May 2011ce

Cornwall Guide Photos Extensive collection of photos including large section on historic / ancient sites around Cornwall Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Cornwall 12th April 2009ce Edited 13th April 2009ce

A Cornish Sourcebook Engraving of Chun, Lanyon and Zennor Cromlechs, 1857. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Grumbla 10th December 2006ce Edited 10th December 2006ce

A Cornish Sourcebook William Copeland Borlase - Cornish Antiquities Viewed in the Light of Modern Research, 1880 Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Chris Bond 5th April 2006ce Edited 7th April 2006ce

Prehistory In Penwith A nice comprehensive website covering all aspects of prehistory in Penwith Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by fitzcoraldo 31st March 2006ce Edited 1st April 2006ce

Historical Illustrations of Ancient Cornwall An absolutely wonderful website, packed full of ancient photographs and illustrations of the prehistoric monuments of Cornwall. My current favourite is the 1860's photograph of Lanyon Quoit and a bloke in a stove pipe hat. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by fitzcoraldo 31st March 2006ce

Into Cornwall Cornwall information resource with features including archaeological sites, towns and villages, interactive maps, places to stay and much much more. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Jane 3 8th March 2006ce

A page of Cornish links Links to Cornish Stones Circles / Menhirs / Hillforts / and Earth mysteries etc. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by phil 1st April 2002ce

The Holy Wells of West Penwith, Cornwall Site by Laurence Hunt. West Penwith is justly famous for its prehistoric stone circles, quoits and standing stones. The area also has a large number of holy wells. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by phil 18th December 2001ce

Meyn Mamvro - Stones of our Motherland MEYN MAMVRO is the magazine of ancient stones and sacred sites in Cornwall. It has been published regularly 3 times a year since 1986, and, taken together, all the editions contain a wealth of original material about the prehistory and ancient customs of Cornwall. EARTH ENERGIES * ANCIENT STONES * SACRED SITES * PAGANISM * LEYPATHS CORNISH PRE-HISTORY & CULTURE * MEGALITHIC MYSTERIES * LEGENDS & FOLKLORE Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by phil 3rd December 2001ce

Journey To The Stones Information on Ian McNeil Cooke's essential guidebook for those attempting to "do" Land's End on foot: 8 practical walks and loads of in-depth but easily accessible information on stone crosses, the fall of Motherculture, the influence of the sun and the moon, and so on. This page is located on Cooke's Men-an-Tol Studio website, which has information and ordering details for the above and his other publications, and there's lots more obscure and compelling information hidden away in them there pages... Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Holy McGrail 14th November 2001ce

Cornwall Online Loads of info on places to stay in Cornwall. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by Holy McGrail 13th November 2001ce

Rosemorran (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Images (click to view fullsize)

Posted by bladup 7th February 2012ce

Rosemorran (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Fieldnotes

At the site the wall curves round in a semi circle and in it ( the wall ) are two 9 footers (see photos) and two 6 footers, i couldn't help but imagine the wall not been there and just the stones on what would seem to be the circumference of a circle, it may be nothing, but i think it's a strange site. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by bladup 7th February 2012ce

Tremenheere (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Fieldnotes

I first saw this site on Pastscape,but it had only given an approximate OS number. The names of all the farms and buildings around are all called Tremeneer,Treminheere etc which means "the place of the standing stone" As I live only 30mins walk from my front door I thought I'd take a look. At the place called Tremenheere (there's a higher and lower) I saw a big standing stone about 9 feet+. I went back the next day with my camera and the farmer was there. He told me that when he was young the stone had stood where it is now,it had then been pulled down and buried. The plough kept hitting it so it was moved to the hedge. The fella said he had always had an urge/feeling to put it back,he had always remembered since being young where it had stood. A few years ago when he had the equipment and people he put it back up. Its a classic Cornwall standing stone,I realised this as soon as I first saw it. Its well worth a visit if your around this way. Comments (0)  |  Add a comment  |  Permalink

Posted by bladup 2nd February 2012ce

Tremenheere (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Images

Posted by bladup 2nd February 2012ce

The Merry Maidens (Stone Circle) — Images

Posted by Meic 23rd January 2012ce

Men-An-Tol (Holed Stone) — Images

Posted by Meic 23rd January 2012ce

The Blind Fiddler (Standing Stone / Menhir) — Images

Posted by Meic 23rd January 2012ce