Latest Fieldnotes

Bolster Bank – 2nd October 2003

I wouldn’t agree with Craig Weatherhill, in “Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall & Scilly” (Cornwall Books – 1985, revised 1997 & 2000) who says the best place to view the dyke is where it abuts the south side of the road between the west side of St.Agnes and Goonvrea (at about SW717501). Yes, there is a public footpath at that point but it is separated from the dyke by highish hedge, and there is no obvious way to see the dyke close up.

I didn’t try viewing the bank (up close) from a different place. The obvious place to try would be where the bank crosses the road from St.Agnes Beacon to Towan Cross (around Goonvrea Farm, at SW 713496). Instead, I got a pretty good overview from the top of St.Agnes Beacon although it does take a few moments to get your bearings; the dyke is hardly the Wall of China and takes a bit of spotting.

It is believed that originally this Dyke enclosed the whole of the coastal area around the hill, cutting it off from the surrounding land. The reason for the bank is not obvious, and nor is the date. Craig Weatherhill, in Cornovia, writes that “It could date from anytime between 500BC and 1000AD, but opinion leans in favour of a post-Roman date, probably fifth or sixth century AD”.

St.Piran’s Round – 2nd October 2003

Although it’s not signposted it is relatively easy to find 1.2km along the B3285 from Goonhavern (towards Perranporth), on the north side of the road, just off a small lane opposite a pink house. You can park a car discreetly on the side of the lane, just off the main road. There is open access to the land.

There is a stile into the enclosure where the earthwork stands and a flagstone entrance into the interior. A small sign gives the following statement, “This St.Piran’s Round is protected as a monument of national importance under the Ancient Monuments Acts 1913-53: Department of the Environment”.

The earthwork is ‘perfect’. Well kept, a perfect circle, with two opposite entrances, equal height banks, and a decent (if overgrown) ditch on the outside. Birds fluttered and it was all so idyllic, almost too idyllic!

The ladle shaped depression is way cool. I can just imagine it being used in the medieval miracle plays.

Prospidnick Menhir – 1st October 2003

It’s not easy to describe exactly how to get here through the variety of lanes. Probably best to get an OS map. Or try this. On the B3297 just north of Helston, take the first left after the golf course (signposted ‘Coverack Bridges’; and others). Pass the red phone box at Coverack Bridges and continue along the lane, past the school. Take the next right at a small triangular junction. This lane takes you past the farm at Chyreen. Just past Halvance Farm there is a small junction. Go right (signposted ‘Releath’ and the sexy menhir is then clearly in view on your right.

This slim but tall stone lies in the field wall on the roadside. There is space almost opposite to park for a short while.

Halligye Fogou – 1st October 2003

Amazing. Without having seen all the other fogous, this and the Carn Euny fogou must be the cream of the crop. Everyone should see this. Everyone! Despite the changes over time (the current entrance is believed to be wrong, and a hole now exists in the main passageway thus letting in light) this is still in very good condition, and with public access for much of the year. I felt the hole might be deliberate to let light into the main passage and make it safer to be in. Just a total guess though.

It wasn’t clear from the OS map exactly where the entrance to the Trelowarren Estate was, so it was a good surprise to see a brown (tourist) sign at the roundabout linking Garras, Mawgan and Rosevear (at SW701243). The turn off to the estate is then marked by a bright modern sign a few hundred metres towards Garras, with the actual estate entrance another 400 metres on at SW705242. After 1km through the estate there is a sign to the fogou and parking for 3-4 cars at SW713241. A short walk up the track takes you to the gates of Halliggye Farm. A marked footpath to the right takes you into an enclosure and you are there, at this amazing structure.

I went in every bit of the fogou, including the tiny original entrance, which I felt was the most stunningly claustrophobic and well engineered. The whole place is just great. Feel the quality of the workmanship.

But the fogou didn’t want its picture taken. Not only was the rain getting heavy now, but I managed to smash my old compact camera on the way out by getting tangled in its strap and accidentally thrashing it about. I’d taken pics with this because it had a flash, whereas my Pentax SLR didn’t. So to try to re-create the now lost pics I went back and took pics again with the Pentax on a fixed shutter speed and trying to use the flash from the compact as a flash. It didn’t work!

NB – The entrance to the estate had a sign saying that all permissive footpaths on the estate were closed between 1st October and ..um...didn’t write the end date down (probably around Easter – I was too busy slapping my head and shouting doh at coming on 1st October!). Despite my fears it didn’t affect me getting to the fogou and I imagine it shouldn’t cause any problems for others because the fogou is an English Heritage site, and up a farm track rather than a footpath. Also the fogou is closed for the winter anyway (currently November to March inclusive).

The Tolvan – 1st October 2003

Just as cool as expected, although I always manage to build up pictures of places in my head and they are never quite the same. I don’t know why but I didn’t quite expect the road the cottage is on to be a country lane, or to be next to the rolling countryside. The area is also surprisingly close to the water (The Helford River is barely 1km away).

Just in case you didn’t know the Tolvan is situated in the back garden of Tolvan Cross Cottage, which is 800m north of Gweek. From Gweek, the main road bends slightly right, whereas the road for the Tolvan is straight on as you get to the Spar / Post Office. The current owners are a lovely young couple, and although they obviously retain the right for people to view at their discretion, they are very flexible and don’t mind people turning up unannounced. Or you can, as I did, give some prior warning in case they are out, away etc. They get about 5-6 people a year at the moment, and unless those number rise dramatically they don’t see it as a problem at all.

The stone is all I expected. Big and enigmatic. One thing that I hadn’t noticed on pics was a small circular hole on the left hand side. Wonder what that is all about?

NB – their ‘front door’ is at the back, next to the stone.

Wendron Stone Circles – 1st October 2003

What’s left of the circles are situated just to the east of the B3297, 800 metres south of the junction with the B3280, around two fields behind a house situated on the rise in the road. There is a lay-by opposite for about 3 cars, although it is quite dangerous to get out of given its situation just under the top of the hill. Directly to the left of the house is an unmarked public footpath that leads towards that back of the house. 2 stones from what was a circle are part of the field wall, apparently still in situ (i.e. they weren’t moved, but were conveniently used as part of the field wall). See Cornovia for a diagram. The other circle is mainly in the next field over (except for one in the field wall – at the viewing point – that is believed to be from the circle), but there is a convenient viewing point at the wall, and it’s obvious that loads of people have climbed over the wall.

‘Four Burrows’ Barrow cemetery – 30th September 2003

Located on either side of the A30, on the highest land in the area, these enormous barrows are impossible NOT to spot between the A30/A390/A3075 roundabout (locally called the ‘Chiverton’ Roundabout) and the junction of the A30 and B3284! You can either park in a small layby right next to the dead-end lane to ‘Fourburrow’ (not signposted), or just off the dead end lane itself.

As barrows 1 and 2 are located in the corner of fields it looks as though they are pretty much left to grow wild, whereas barrows 3 & 4 are more part of the cropped field and when I visited they were pretty neatly kept, and being famed up to the edge, making them stand out in the field (as if there size didn’t make them stand out anyway!)

Callestick Settlement – 30th September 2003

Marked on the 1:25,000 OS map as a small round settlement. The map suggests it is bisected by a field boundary just to the west of the ‘Callestock Cyder Farm’. However when wandering to the west of the cyder farm it seems like the one big field on the map is now two fields – the east side is the car park and some wildish land with a large earth bank as a boundary (which I first took as possibly part of the settlement but later discounted), and the west side has been made into a horse field. This means the setlement must be part of the far side of the horse field, with the other part in the next field. With the naked eye, and at a distance, I couldn’t see anything to suggest the
remains of a settlement was there.

I love Cornwall but it does have more than its fair share of ultra cheesy touristy places, and this ‘Cyder Farm’ must be the equivalent of Gorgonzola. It really is awful, and the cider isn’t even that good (and is VERY expensive for no good reason).

Ballowall Barrow – 29th September 2003

From the west side of St.Just follow the ‘Cape Cornwall’ road past ‘Cape Cornwall School’. 300 metres on, as the houses finish on the left hand side of the road, take an immediate left. This is NOT signposted (and bloody should be for a site if this importance). Follow this road into the National Trust land and you can hardly fail to spot this sublime ‘barrow’ on the left hand side of the road, just after an old mine chimney.
Parking is available a short distance past the barrow.

I put inverted commas on ‘barrow’ because this thing is so amazing that I feel there has to be a separate word for it! I have seen quite few different types of barrows and burial places in my time and this blows them all out of the water, being a mix of different sites and styles. The central dome is assumed to have been significantly bigger before, and with its strange thick collar all around it surely would have been a magnificent sight all those years ago, whatever it actually looked like at the time.

The entrance grave on the outside is clearly visible, as is a cist directly on the other side of the ‘outer collar’, and another cist at the other side of the central dome. There is also a strange alcove and pit on the east side. This was built by Borlase as a viewing pit; a sort of ‘show pit’. Read the English Heritage listing for the barrow via the internet link below to try to fathom out all of this (I could just follow it, but a diagram would have been useful).

Walking between the outer collar and central dome is a fantastic experience as your senses are surrounded by the ancient equivalent of the art of dry stone walling (although some of it is Borlase’s work).

Carn Euny Settlement – 29th September 2003

With an OS map, this is pretty easy to get to, despite the tortuous journey through lanes with many blind corners. Without a map you might still just make it because the settlement is easily found once you reach Brane, which is basically a dead end settlement. It’s a shame that this amazing settlement isn’t a little bit better signposted from the carpark and given a separate footpath up to it because I can imagine that this could be a very muddy trek in the wrong weather, and if cows are in the fields.

There is a very small ‘brown’ tourist sign at Drift, alongside the sign to Sancreed. At the next main junction (at SW423291) ‘Brane’ is clearly signposted. Only at the next junction (with the lane to Tregonebris – SW416288) is ‘Carn Euny’ not signposted. As you come into Brane, there is one last ‘Carn Euny’ brown signpost. 300 metres after this, next to small wooded area and opposite the last house in Brane, is space for about 5 cars to park. The settlement is then about 300 metres away, up a lane, half way up the next field and then left though a small field to the settlement.

The fogou will blow your mind. The journey is worth it just for this. Although I knew it was a long fogou I wasn’t sure if it was open (because the Chysauster one is so sadly neglected and buggered by English Heritage) and hadn’t totally read up about it. I was happy to simply see that the south entrance was open and got my torch at the ready thinking it would be a creepy, narrow place, but soon realised that once under the lintelled south entrance (which originally wouldn’t have been an entrance by the way) I could easily stand up – indeed, I later ran through the fogou and back into the corbelled room jumping up and down at the bloody size of the underground structures! The corbelled room will shock you even if you have been in other fogous or Scottish souterrains. Forget the dodgy roof, just feel the width! And look at the skill of the building work. Amazing. The main fogou passage is also a masterpiece of engineering. The creep at the southern end (believed to be originally the only entrance) is also pretty cool, although it is sensitively blocked at ground level by wooden slats.

The courtyard houses are not as impressive as Chysauster, but nevertheless are well worth the visit as well.

Pentire Point East Barrows – 28th September 2003

The area is easily reached via the dead end road through Pentire, 2kms from the A392 coming into Newquay. A car park (not free in season, but only 50p an hour) is situated where the road ends, and also has toilets. Or you could chance parking at Lewinnick Lodge Restaurant, halfway along the north slope of the headland.

Not surprisingly the views off the headland are stunning, reaching as far north as the Trevose Lighthouse, about 15km up the coast. The end of the headland is a great position for a low barrow at SW781616.

Just before you get to the carpark, there is another barrow (topped with vegetation) on the northside of the road at SW789615. Opposite houses, on the ‘Pentire Pitch and Putt’.

The Kelseys Barrows – 28th September 2003

SW7660 area

The OS map shows 3 barrows dotted around ‘The Kelseys’, near Kelsey Head Cliff Castle. The nearest to the cliff castle is allegedly at SW765605, but I couldn’t find a trace of it. The second is visible as a low mound near the cliff edge at SW765602, and the third is at SW768600 but is pretty indistinct.

Penhale Point Cliff Castle – 28th September 2003

Easily reached via Holywell, although the interior of the headland is littered with old mining activity, and modern god knows what (not marked on the map – seem to be some sort of telecom / electrical stuff) and signs tell you to stick to the coast path. It’s worth the effort because the view in all directions is stunning, be it out to sea and Carter’s Rocks, to Ligger Point to the south or towards Holywell Beach and Kelsey Head to the north. And the defences of the cliff castle are still quite impressive.

Kelsey Head Cliff Castle – 28th September 2003

The car parks at West Pentire both seem to be privately run because they seem to charge all day / all year around (whereas most Council owned ones are free off season / outside peak hours), but are probably still the best places to start if you come by car. If you stick to the coast path you could probably get away without a map. Otherwise you may feel more confident with one. By the by, there is a semi-signposted short cut across fields to ‘Porth Joke’. The National Trust car park via Treago Farm is free, but not well signposted.

Porth Joke is not only a great name, but also had cows grazing right up the sand (and even some hoof prints in the sand – had they been out surfing??). Kelsey Head Cliff Castle is then on the next headland.

The defences are not particularly impressive but you can imagine that the site would have been quite out of the way and maybe would not have needed large ramparts. The entrance (in the middle of the V shaped ramparts) is relatively obvious if you walk long the defences.

Cubert Common Round Barrow – 28th September 2003

This massive barrow can be found on the far south edge of Cubert Common, now owned by the National Trust. It can be reached by two main means, either via the large tract of National Trust land to the west and north (which includes a discrete official and free car park reached via Treago Farm) or via the tiny lanes from Cubert, Tresean or Treworgans. These lanes bring you to a gate on the south edge of the NT land and you can actually park inside the gate, right next to the barrow, but horses have been know to damage cars.

The barrow is massive and has a great view to the sea, so may have been for an important local burial.

Cubert Round Settlement – 28th September 2003

Very little now seems to survive of this enclosure. Either that or I wasn’t very observant.

The site straddles the road from the A3075 to Cubert and Holywell (about 1km from the A3075 junction), and the OS map seems to be out of date now. The blob on the south side of the road is a large agricultural barn, but a similar (although smaller) structure now also exists on the north side of the road. Both have tracks leading into them where on a quiet day you might be able to park for a short while. There doesn’t really seem to be anything left of see of the enclosure, although I assume some of it still exists under the very wild overgrowth on the south side of the road, complete with old agricultural equipment.

Blackbury Castle / Camp – 27.9.2003

Located just to the North side of A3052 between Seaton and Sidmouth. A relatively simple way to get this English Heritage administered site is via a side road close to the junction with the B3176. However it is not actually signposted from this main road which is a pain if you don’t have an OS map. If you do find this lane heading north from the main road, the site is then signposted at the next (left turn), and about 1.5 kms along this road the hillfort lies just south of this narrow lane. At the site itself it is signposted from the westerly direction, but not the easterly so you could miss it! The 1:25,000 OS map calls it Blackbury Camp. The 1:50,000 map calls it Blackbury Castle.

A small car park is located just off the easterly entrance through the large and very impressive ramparts. A board gives the following info, ‘“An Iron Age hillfort defended by a single bank and ditch forming a rough D-shaped enclosure. A triangular outwork or barbican was added to the South but never completed. The fort was probably occupied between the second and first centuries BC by a cattle farming community”.

This is a fantastic and interesting ‘hill fort’ with impressive defences, and an interesting annexe on the south side. Trees also surround it, and it isn’t on the actual top of the hill, but surely would have been quite an imposing structure. Despite being around 185 metres above sea level you cannot see the sea, which is blocked by one more hill to the south. Well worth a visit.

We parked at the end of the lane leaving a walk on flat ground of only 200 metres or so to reach this elegant pair of beautiful standing stones. The taller one is about 10 feet high and slimline like a blade. Their shape and grace reminded me of the shape of stones I had seen pictures of on Orkney, which I haven’t (yet) experienced. Hauntingly lonely, this pair’s angled tops seem to be pointing, but to what is unclear. I wished we’d had more time.

The walk from the only realistic car parking space was not hard, maybe 20 minutes at most, and if you know what you’re looking for you can see it as you pass over the first cattle grid, but I could not, despite Moth’s insistence, “look, woman, it’s there!” For me it was more of a ‘slow reveal’ and a thrilling one at that. As we got closer, its distinct shape came into view and I become more silent, gobsmacked by it’s beauty.

Imagine the Rollrights, and now combine that vision with Castlerigg... yep! you have Sunkenkirk. Over fifty beautiful stones, some fallen, but predominently still standing, enclose a wonderful space somehow of a human scale. I walked round, pausing to admire the craftsmanship in each carefully dressed stone: the snooker-table flatness of the dressing, the sharp edges where the flatnesses intersected... oo-er, but this is a blinder! Something about its completeness is utterly alluring. The rise in the land just at the back of the circle affords views of its entirity, which you just don’t get at other circles.

It is little, but well formed. The tallest of the stones (all of 0.8m) has fallen slightly. There are no visible signs of the alleged cist in the middle of the four-poster. The cup marks on the SE stone are very worn, and this and two others have definite grooves, how much of this is simply weathering, I couldn’t say. There are many large stones lying nearby, which could be who knows what. Numerous hut circles about 50m to the south and north. The Crag is covered in them. Though some may be quarry remains, there’s nothing to indicate this in any references I have found so far. The crag does look as if they have been quarried. Excellent views, even better from the nearby Ravensheugh Crag trig point.

Regarding access, The track is passable to vehicles and runs within 20m of the stones. Probably easily accessible to a bod walking with sticks, but would require a big rear wheelchair and someone to help navigate the uneven ground between the track and the circle. You’d need at least 15cm clearance on the wheels.

This is a very poorly monument. It’s been got at by Victorian robbers, it’s got rabbits and badgers and the plowing seems to be getting closer each year.

Some kerbstones are still there, yet some of them are being dragged into the plough soil. The badgers clean their straw fairly regularly, so the heaps of earth may contain artefacts.

It’s on land belonging to Crescent farm so best to ask there. If you don’t have a metal detector and no spades, they’re O.K. about interested visitors. They also have some intruigingly weathered stones in their drive.

You can see it from Ponteland Rd, if you can’t get across plowed fields. You can also get there via the number 21 bus from Newcastle if you don’t have a car.

There’s also a councils dump at Dewley House which has many many lovely “Did I used to be part of a site?” stones, lined up for inspection.

A recent visit to this site on a beautiful Autumn dusk yielded the following. If you clamber to the highest point of Castle Cliff Rocks, the boulder group close to the northern end of Lud’s Church and overlooking the valley, you will be rewarded with a view of the top of Shutlingsloe hill peeping above the far valley side. This hill has a strikingly flattened cone as its summit and dominates the landscape for miles around. It also has a key role in the novel ‘The Wierdstone of Brisingamen’ by Alan Garner.
Secondly, at the nearby Gradbach Youth Hostel is an intriguing picture on the dining room wall. A blown-up reproduction of an old picture postcard shows a strange statue perched on one of the walls of the Lud’s Church gully. To my eyes it looks like a female, with partially-damaged outstreched arms. White in colour with a long dress or skirt obscuring the legs, the style to me looked 17th Century. I wonder what it was, and what happened to it. Perhaps active religious ritual continued at this site until the modern era.

The amount of large stone lying in the area here does suggest that there may have been “something else”. If so and if it was situated where it now lays then by looking east you would view the three cairns as models of Showery Tor, Roughtor and Brown Willy. Any thoughts?
The three cairns are worth looking at, they have stone work that seems to be laid in circles rather than the massed piles that I am more familiar with on the moor. There is a fair amout of quartz but then it is prevelent on that side of the moor in many old walls so I think it was just the stone availiable.
In the field to the south of the cairns is another “standing stone” with a recumbent stone beside it, or is it a rubbing stone?

Visited 15th August 2003: Even less impressive than neighbouring Crug Cou this barrow is barely discerable. If you’re passing, and you have time on your hands, you might have fun trying to spot it.

Visited 15th August 2003: Looking for round barrows in this area is fairly un-rewarding. Despite having it’s name on the Ordnance Survey map, Crug Cou is not very well defined. Don’t go out of your way to see this barrow!