Looking down on the entrance to the northern tunnel, which is probably the ‘artificial cave’ mentioned by the Reverend Polwhele in 1803. Assuming the stones are original, this appears to have had a very small creep entrance. The enclosure ditch is immediately below the viewpoint, running left-right along the bottom of the photo.
Looking down on the excavated section of the enclosure ditch. On the left is the entrance to the northern tunnel, which leads from the ditch to the fogou. This has been more fully explored since the photo was taken.
The fallen lintel stone lying in the main passage. Since this photo was taken, the stone has been lifted and placed back across the roof of the passage (summer 2024).
Looking east along the E-W section of the main passage.
Looking south along the N-S section of the main passage. The entrance to the western rock-cut passage is off to the right. The steps at the end lead up to ground level.
In the main passage, showing the impressive preservation of the side walls.
The eastern end of the western rock-cut passage where it joins the main passage, showing the height difference between the two sections. G/F (on the left) is standing in the main passage.
The shored up western rock-cut passage. Heading in this direction, it leads from the fogou to the outer enclosure ditch.
Looking north along the N-S section of the main passage. This is approximately same position as the viewpoint in the photo dirtyfingernails posted in 2004, with more of the passage’s floor exposed since then.
Looking west along the E-W section of the main passage. Immediately in front of and below the viewpoint, right of centre, is the entrance to the northern tunnel. David Clifton (in red shirt) is standing above the other end of the rock-cut tunnel near its junction with the enclosure ditch.
It shows up well on Google Earth. The rectangular feature to its north is a big metal sheet covering an unstable void, which is more of the fogou. The tight dog-leg bend in the main passage is unlike any other fogou
Boden Vean Fogou
October 22, 2003: cornwall24.co.uk/news/
Archaeologists from Cornwall County Council’s Environment and Heritage Service have begun a three-week excavation to investigate an ancient fogou at Higher Boden, near Manaccan on the Lizard, which was recently discovered by a local farmer.
Fogous were last in the headlines in 1996 when Channel Four’s Time Team devoted a programme to these puzzling Cornish monuments.
Named after the Cornish word meaning ‘cave’, fogous are remarkable prehistoric monuments consisting of a stone-lined passage roofed with massive capstones. Many also have side tunnels dug into the natural subsoil and a few have evidence of circular underground chambers.
They are found only in the extreme west of Cornwall, mainly on the Land’s End and Lizard peninsulas, and were always built within and beneath settlement sites. Evidence shows that they were built more than 2,000 years ago ago during the later Iron Age (400BC to AD43) and have similarities with underground monuments known as ‘souterrains’, which are broadly contemporary but are found in other parts of Britain and Ireland.
Charlie Johns, county council senior archaeologist and project manager, said: “Nobody knows exactly what fogous were built for. The three most popular theories are that they were refuges in times of trouble, cellars for storing food and livestock or that they served a religious or ritual function – perhaps it was a combination of all three. This is an amazing and extremely rare discovery.”
There are only eleven other definite or probable fogous in Cornwall, only two of which have been excavated in recent years – Carn Euny, near Sancreed, in 1978, and Halliggye, near Trelowarren, in the early 1980s – although these revealed little evidence as to the function of fogous.
This latest excavation is sponsored by English Heritage, which has provided specialist support for the project.
Site visits and tours will be conducted by county council and Royal Cornwall Museum staff. Students from Truro College, local volunteers and the Cornwall Archaeological Society have been assisting with the work.
All about fogous
A fogou, or underground tunnel, has been documented at Boden since the early 19th century, when it was viewed and recorded by Polwhele, the vicar of Manaccan and St Anthony. The reports of later writers (Cornish 1906, Henderson 1912 and 1916) appear to “embellish Polwhele’s original report without reference to any further field observations” (Linford 1998, 188).
The site lies on a southerly slope near the summit of a gentle hill, some 300 metres to the west of the Boden Vean settlement (SW 7685 2405) itself one kilometre south of Manaccan village on the Lizard peninsula. The below-ground remains have been part uncovered following two separate incidents in 1991 and 1996, while discussions with local residents have shown that the fogou had previously been exposed 75-80 years ago.
There are only 11 other known definite or probable fogous: Boleigh, Carn Euny, Castallack, Chysauster, Halligye, Higher Bodinar, Lower Boscaswell, Pendeen, Porthmeor, Treveneague, Trewardreva, and 20 or so possible ones. Of these, only two have been excavated in recent years – Carn Euny (Christie 1978) and Halligye in 1982
In the interim note on Halligye, Bill Startin pointed out that “despite revealing quite a lot of information about the Halligye site, these limited excavations have revealed little further evidence as to the function of fogous”.
Visited 23 June 2023.
After leaving Roskruge Beacon, we headed northwest along more winding lanes past the imposing gates of Roskruge Barton. A footpath leads across a ploughed field, thankfully bone dry after a prolonged dry spell, up a gentle slope towards the site of the fogou.
I was completely unaware of either the Time Team dig here, or the ongoing excavations, so was really just hoping for some kind of glimpse of something in the corner of the field. Instead, we arrive to an active site, with two archaeologists (Peter Seabrook and David Clifton of the Meneage Archaeology Group) braving the baking heat to uncover yet more of this amazing site.
With no prompting, we get invited onto the site to see what they’re working on, and are given access to both the exposed main passage and also the scaffolding-propped tunnel to the west. It’s really impressive. The main passage is roofless but otherwise very well-preserved. It has a very unusual right-angled bend in it, beyond which a surviving lintel stone lies fallen across the passageway. The partly dug tunnel off to the west appears to be rock- or rab-cut. Back on ground level, we’re shown the tantalising end of another blocked tunnel and void to the north of the main passage. This apparently is a second rab-cut passage running from the fogou to the outer enclosure ditch and is likely to have been the ‘artificial cave’ reported by the Rev Polwhele in 1803. The Iron Age enclosure ditch is currently filled in, but was itself very deep and enclosed the whole fogou site. It’s terrific to see this second passage in the process of being encovered.
Peter shows us some of the pottery finds from the site. What a brilliant stroke of luck to find the site being worked on and to get such a great reception.
We’re pointed off in the general direction of the settlement site to the northwest. Much of this is unworked, with only some shallow trenches in place. We’re asked to stay out of the dig site, which we readily agree to. From here we carry on northwest along the footpath, which promptly vanishes and leaves us to improvise an exit from the next field.
I had intended to visit the Tremenhere standing stone today, but time at the fogou means that we no longer have long enough to get there before the infrequent bus back to Helston. It can wait for another day, this has been more than enough reward for the little effort involved in our visit.
Postscript: Since our visit in June 2023, the rock-cut northern tunnel has been fully dug out, and the fallen lintel stone we saw in the bottom of the main passage has now been lifted back into place (see link to video).
The site of a fogou at Boden Vean, Cornwall, has been known for some time and was rediscovered in 1991 following the digging of a water pipe trench by the landowner (Mr Christopher Hosken).
The site was then planned and drawn by the Cornwall Archaeology Unit who concluded that it was the remains of a partially collapsed fogou.
Below is the info from rlaha.ox.ac.uk/archy/abst401.html
(this link now dead) but from a cache search on google it is possible to read the following....
Archaeometry 40, 1 (1998), 187-216
A geophysical survey was conducted at Boden Vean, St. Anthony Meneage, Cornwall, over the site of a buried chamber thought to be the remains of a souterrain or fogou. A combination of geophysical techniques was successfully applied including an experimental microgravity survey over the location of the buried chamber itself. Magnetometer survey revealed a complex palimpsest of archaeological activity extending throughout the surrounding landscape, centred on a rectangular ditched enclosure containing the fogou. A series of gravity anomalies were recorded in the vicinity of the latter which were consistent with the collapsed section of the feature recorded by the Cornish Archaeological Unit. Further gravity anomalies suggested the presence of additional void features, possibly related to the extended passages of the fogou.
Video showing the restoration of the fallen lintel at Higher Boden Fogou earlier this year.
Dig One (2021) at Boden Fogou.
Webpages dedicated to the ongoing excavations at Boden Fogou. We were treated to a tour of the site today.
I hadn’t realised that the resurrected Time Team did a dig there in 2021.
Introduction and a link to James Gossip’s paper (click on ‘downloads) which describes the fogou and its rediscovery.
St Keverne local history website has this interesting page by Margaret Hunt,
Amazing pictures and details of the excavation carried out Oct 2003......
The fogou tunnel, when excavated, revealed a magnificent structure with walling up to 1.5 m high and a scatter of huge lintel stones lying haphazardly just above the floor level. A possible human tooth was found lying near the floor surface next to pieces of black burnished ware pottery.
