Mr Hamhead

Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1926

Davidstow

......On the Bodmin Moors, near the village is a group of barrows surrounded by well defined moat filled with water, and also a genuine long barrow measuring 170 ft long and 60 feet wide; the burial chamber is at the east end and there are the remains of a fine chromlech. The capstone is huge, 18ft by 7ft, and is composed of igneous rock not found nearer than a mile, so that prehistoric man must have dragged it at least that distance. There are 18 cup markings, a very rare feature, as there is only one other example in Cornwall, in the parish of St Keverne.

The two stones pictured can now be found in North Cornwall Museum at Camelford. They were taken there in 2008 after spending time at a locals school. They had originally been excavated at Starapark in the 1950s where they made up part of the kerb of the barrow. It is thought there were more than the two stones originally but the others have been lost or destroyed.
The two stones are rare examples of cup marked stones in Cornwall and do not have any recognisable pattern.

Cookham appears to have had civilization for the last 4,000 years. There is a little Bronze Age site, set in the northern bend between Marlow and Cookham. At Cockmarsh there are 3 barrows still visible, one just as a crop mark. The biggest is about 3m high, with a bit of a ditch left on the north side.

Cookham has its roots in prehistory you will find two megaliths, the Cookham Stone and the Tarry Stone

from www.cookham.com

Dozmare Pool is, next to Loe Pool, the largest
sheet of sweet water in Cornwall. It abounds in
fish, and was formerly a great resort of the worker
in flint, as innumerable traces of the industry testify.
Arrow- and spear-heads, scrapers, and an almost
unlimited amount of chips and flakes may be found
near it. In the lake is a cranogue, or subaqueous
cairn, on which was formerly a palafite dwelling.
The bottom of the pool is certain to richly repay
exploration.
(S Baring Gould, Book of Cornwall 1899)

“In the commons belonging to the town of Lambourn, is a Barrow, called Creeg Mear, the Great Burrow, which one Christopher Michell digging into some years since, whilst I lived at Lambrigan, in hopes to find stones for an
adjoining hedge of his, came to an hollow place (as usual in such), and found nine urns full of ashes ; which, being disappointed of what he sought for, for the barrow was all of earth, except three or four rough stones which formed
the hollow, he brutally broke immediately to pieces ; and when I expostulated with him about it, and told him I would have paid him his charges, his reply was, that whenever he met with any more, he would bring them to me,
but these were a parcel of old pitchers good for nothing.
That these were Danish, I believe there is no doubt. [They were British, as appears at once, from the Kist Vaen discovered within, and from the hinted badness of the pottery. But they were] I suppose, the ashes of some chief commanders slain in battle, (for which the place is very fit, it being a large open down) from the great number of them. [One barrow cannot mark a battle.] And on a small hill just under this barrow, [and, as under the barrow, bearing probably no relation to it], is a Danish encampment, called Castle Caer Dane, vulgo Castle Caer Don, i. e. the Danes’ Camp, consisting of three intrenchments finished, and another begun with an intent to surround
the inner three, but not completed.”

CS Gilbert ‘Parochial History of Cornwall’Vol III 1838

Not quite sure where the barrow was/is, hence putting this under Caer Dane.

“My head was not so full with fancies as the head of Mr. McLauchlan, who went across to Duloe, called the fallen stones of the circle the results of the overthrow of Baal’s altar, reflected on the prevalence near-by of oak and vervein, and convinced himself that Duloe was Dru-los or the Hill of the Druids”.

from “Freedom of the Parish” by G Grigson 1954

Now available again through Westcountry Books

“A hundred and forty years ago, or thereabouts, labourers found a kist, or stone burial-box, an urn and some ashes when they were repairing the road which borders the field. Then in the eighteen thirties someone made a cut through one of the barrows and found a bronze axe (which has disappeared). In 1834 the farmer’s plough hit a large stone as it crossed a barrow. Under it his men found fragments of human bone and bits of charcoal and near-by a bronze dagger with rivets of a common type. The barrows were a nuisance -’The farmer proceeded to cart away for manure the largest barrow, nearest to the south hedge, but after uncovering it to the depth of nearly three feet, he found that he had laid bare a huge bed of stones, and desisted from his work.’ Dr. Couch heard of this on his rounds and decided eventually to investigate for himself. He dug, or had others to dig for him, through the stones to ground level, and discovered ashes, a battle-axe and a scrap of bronze, which was another fragment-the hilt end-of a dagger. Hilt and battle-axe went to the museum at Truro, where you can still see them. No one thought much of the scrap of bronze, though of all objects found in Pelynt it proved to be the one most exciting for the speculative mind, as we shall see.”

From “Freedom of the Parish” by Geoffrey Grigson published 1954. There is a whole chapter on antiquities in the parish including the Giants Hedge, various barrows and Bake and Hall rings. Now available again through Westcountry Books.

A Guidebook for Carn Euny can be bought at Chysauster. You do not have to pay to go into Chysauster just to buy the guidebook.

..just visible, the circle known as the Trippet Stones, 105 ft in diameter with nine stones in situ and the rare adition of a central stone.
“Is there not some ancient lettering on the central stone?” I asked ” a C or a G?”
The farmer smailed. ” I mind the time” he said, “when that C was put there by Mrs Collins, the landlady”

C Lewis-Hind: Days in Cornwall. Methuen 1907

Very little remains of ancient settlements on the Isle of Portland. And yet this large lump of rock sticking out into the English Channel must have seen plenty of ocupation before the Romans arrived.
The only real evidence still to be seen is at Culver Well, very near the southernmost part of the island at Portland Bill. This is supposed to date back nearly 7,000 years.
Evidence of the Bronze Age can be found in field names etc. Row barrow, Brans Barrow, Round Barrow and Kings Barrow are just some that can be found. Kings Barrow is now a nature reserve in a stone quarry behind The Verne prison. The barrow is said to have existed up until 1870.
The stone that has made Portland famous is possibly the main reason that very little remains on the island. As well as destroying barrows it is thought a stone circle was destroyed in 1847 when The Grove prison was built. The name of the prison could be a clue but it is also mentioned that it was known as the Druids Temple.
The Frolic was said to have been a standing stone near Easton. Again it was gone by the turn of the 20th century.
Another standing stone is thought to have stood near Southwell, giving its name to Long Stone Ope.
During the Iron Age chambers were cut down into the rock. These later became known as Dene Holes, or beehive chambers. They were conical in shape and up to 10ft deep. It is thought they were used to store grain. Several were discovered around King Barrow when quarrying started. I am not sure if any remain.

These are just some quick notes I took from a book on the history of the Island by Stuart Morris. I only had half a day to explore and with all the later industrial history around plus some fantastic coastline I did not have much chance to seek out anymore info. There is a museum on the island but it was closed in late Februrary.

King Arthur’s Bed is on private land and access is subject to certain restrictions, which from the end of August 2005 can viewed on countrysideaccess.gov.uk or in person at Trewortha Farm.”

Please make sure you adhere to these restrictions when in force.

I have just written this up in preparation for a tour I have got to give to 40 americans to the site... thought it might be of some use to somebody:

Castle Dore supposedly means earth castle.

It is an Iron Age Fort consisting of an inner circle and outer circle. Both have an entrance in the eastern side, away from the prevailing winds. It is thought to have been built originally about 200BC.

Views from the fort are extensive, surrounded on both sides by valleys that would have been flooded in Iron Age times. The Fowey Valley to the east, and St Austell Bay and Tywardreath to the west. It is only in the last 300 or so years that the valley to the west has dried up and become farmland. This is a result of mining activities on the higher ground of central Cornwall.

The ridge that the hillfort is built on has always been an important trade route from coast to coast. At the time the site was inhabited the climate of Britain was cooling down. People had moved off the high moors to settle closer to the sea. They had started trading with other countries, Ireland and the Brittany area of France being just two examples. The people of these “kingdoms” would rather travel overland than risk the seas around Lands End, something that would continue well into the middle ages. The trade route, and the traders, needed protecting. By sticking to higher ground they had a good view of the surrounding countryside that most probably would have been heavily forested at the time. All across Cornwall hillforts sprang up, apart from the high desolate moors. Many still remain, others have been ploughed back into the landscape, only appearing on the occasional aerial photo.

It is thought that a small village existed outside the eastern gate of the hillfort in its early days. There is also evidence from aerial photos that a circular site of some sort stood a short distance to the south west of the hillfort. This could have been a henge, a Bronze Age ritual site, consisting of an earth bank and ditch. Was this where the Tristan Stone originated?

After the fort had been in use for 100 years or so it is thought that the defences were strengthened. This could have been as a result of the advent of the sling into Iron Age weaponery or it may have been because of the threat of a Roman Invasion. Whatever the reason, the walls were built up, probably topped off with wooden fencing, and a covered gateway erected over the entrance.

Experts believe the site was abandoned shortly after the Romans invasion of Britain. No evidence of a great battle has ever been found at Castle Dore and it is not thought that the Romans ever “invaded” Cornwall. The general thinking is that they traded along the coast and very rarely travelled in land, in fact there are only thought to be a few Roman sites in Cornwall, and they are only basic camps, possibly set up to shelter the odd legion.

The Romans called Cornwall the “Cassiterites”, a name deriving from the fact that there was tin here. This was the main reason for them coming to the county to trade.

So what happened after the Romans?

Experts differ… An excavation carried out in the mid 20th century found evidence of postholes inside the central circle. It was decided these were supports for a large hall or palace, a separate kitchen and another slightly smaller hall. Other buildings were also thought to have been included in this grouping including a chapel and stables. At the time it was said that these holes dated to the 5th or 6th century and tied in nicely with the story of King Mark. He is said to have lived in the Fowey/Lostwithiel area and through his association with the story of Tristan and Isult the argument for Castle Dore being the centre of his “Kingdom” was strong.

Sadly, for those romantics amongst us, we cannot stop there. Research done in the mid 1980’s failed to find any evidence that the site was occupied after the Iron Age. That is not to say King Mark did not exist. He could have easily lived at Lantyan, a nearby manor mentioned in the Domesday Book, and possibly the Lancien of the Tristan story. Chances are that wherever he lived it was a wooden structure, now long gone and we will never know exactly where it was.

In my view the name also holds clues to the fact King Mark never settled here. Castle Dore is said to be translated from middle Cornish and means “earth castle”. Middle Cornish dates from the 13th to 16th century, whereas many of the Iron Age hillforts in the area are prefixed with the word Bury or Berry, a word more associated with the Saxons or Britains. Did Castle Dore not get a British name because it was not occupied at the time?

In fact the Castle lay abandoned and forgotten until the English Civil War of the mid 1600’s. In 1644, with Fowey surrounded, the Parliamentarians commanded by the Earl of Essex, used the site as a camp. Eventually in August, King Charles I and his men surrounded the area, by which time Essex and Lord Robartes of Lanhydrock had slipped away and sailed to Plymouth in a fishing boat. The Parliamentarians, under Major General Philip Skipton, surrendered and the army consisting of 6000 men were disarmed and sent on their way. Unfortunately for them, many paid for the poor treatment they had inflicted on the local people during their occupation. It seems only 1000 survived.

Nowadays the site is supposedly under the protection of the national conservation body for ancient monuments – English Heritage. I am a bit concerned about the erosion being caused by the cattle that are put onto the site, but at least they keep the vegetation down.

In 1240 a perambulation of the Bounds of the forest of Dartmoor was undertaken by 12 knights summoned by the Sheriff of Devon, under the orders of Henry III. Included in that perambulation was Elysburgh.

Archeological recording done in Jan 2004 on fields to the north of the rock uncovered 10 hearth pits. These were found to contain neolithic pottery, a quern. flints and burnt hazelnuts.

It is thought that the hearths were possibly constructed for seasonal ritual gatherings rather than a permanent settlement.

Five other enclosures have been discovered in the adjoining fields around Padderbury with the aid of aerial photography in the last 20 years. Have only driven past but the views from the fort must be fantastic.

I have had it suggested today (by someone who I believe knows what he is talking about) that if you look west along the main stone row at Merrivale, it lines up with the Rillaton Barrow at Minions.

In Macleans guide to the “Deanery of Trigg Minor” published in 1876 he states that the Stipple Stones were first mentioned in the time of Queen Elizabeth the First.

The site has now been cleared of all stone to make a field. It is thought by Cornwall Arch Grp that it was most probably a hut circle.

Extract from the Cornish Times 12th January 1901:

It has been reported in the national press that during the recent storms one of the upright stones at Stonehenge toppled over. This in turn brought down one of the cross stones. The upright which has gone down is in the centre of the three standing on the North West side, the cross stone has broken in two and in the words of the Daily Mail “looks to be made of some sort of composition”
It is more than a century (1798) since the last fall of sandstone (?)

It was reported later in the year that the damage done at Stonehenge was due to tourists! They erode the ground around the stones causing a build up of water. This softens the soil and when storms of the magnitude that hit Britain over the New Year 1901 occur, can cause structures to fall.

This is not word for word but taken from notes, Mr H

I recently purchased a couple of old maps of Bodmin Moor, one is a military map from 1946 the other is from 1961. Both mark a fogou on at this grid ref just north of Brown Willy. It is still marked on Os maps as late as 1970 but is not on the modern Explorer.

This is one area of the moor I am not too familiar with and it is also an area best not ventured into in deepest winter.

I will keep you all posted if I find out anything.

Mentioned in 1930 CPRE report as being blocked.

Recorded in CPRE report of 1930 as blocked.

JT Blight in a journal for the Royal Institute of Cornwall (1862) stated the Tolven was “formerly a conspicuous object by the way-side. In the past 12 or 14 years a house has been built betwixt it and the road. It now forms part of a garden hedge” He also wrote of a low barrow about 20 yards in diameter ina field adjoining the stone 18 yards across the road. Beside this was a kist which Blight refered to as a cradle used to place children in after they had been passed through the Tolven.

Another reference to the Tolven is found in “The Cornishman” newspaper in 1879. Here it is stated that the stone originally lay on nearby Fean Downs but was considered unsafe. A Mr Moyles, whilst building a new house in 1847 had the stone moved to help form a hedge to his new property. Ignoring those that said it was bad luck to move the stone Mr Moyles then proceded to knock off portions of the top and bottom of the stone.

This information was gained from an article in the 2001 Old Cornwall Society magazine by Michael Tangye.

“In going or returning from the circle a pile of rocks is passed on which are several cavities, two of them resembling the impressions of human feet, but much larger. They are called the “Giant’s Footsteps”. The cairn is known as Careg or Creeg Tol, the holed rock.

JT Blight “A week at The Land’s End” 1861

With the weather forecasters telling us that the whole country was to be in the grip of an Ice Age by mid week I headed for subtropical St Ives. My partner had a two day conference to go to so I thought I would join her and get in some walking at the same time.

Tuesday 27th Jan 2004

Drove out of St Ives a couple of miles to the hamlet of Towednack. In the porch of the church on the right is a recumbent stone that according to Ian Cooke’s guide to the Tinners Way came from Crete in 2000-1500BC.
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Left the church and took the footpath heading west to Beagletodn. Just after the house a gate on the right (padlocked) has to be climbed over so a track can be followed.

You will find in these two walks that I have not stuck to legal paths but made my own way over what is essentilly wild moorland. This is possible in mid January as the bracken has died down but even so I would reccomend wearing waterproof trousers and taking a stick.

The track twists its way amongst boulders and water features untill you come to a gate near the Pump House featured on the OS map. Go through the gate and turn right. You will soon find yourself walking up between two walls (not for the last time that you will be following ancient trackways). At the top of this track you come to another gate, once the other side of it it is time to head out over the moors towards Sperris Quoit.
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Known as one of the most elusive sites in Cornwall I battled my way through the bracken and gorse in a north westerly direction untill I saw the pile of rocks on the skyline. Don’t be mistaken by Sperris Croft, a smaller pile but nethertheless named on the OS map.

Reaching the rock piles you will get great views over to the coast and also of Zennor Hill. The quoit lays just to the south of the rocks and can be distinguished by one triangular upright. Even from here it is not easy to reach and requires some scrambling amongst the stones. Keep an eye out for the ancient stone wall that runs off to the SEast, did they use stones from the quoit in its construction?

Leaving the rocks walk towards the ruined mine building. Wheal Sperris was a small mine started in the early 1800’s, all around this area are open shafts, water channels and various holes in the ground. If you do leave the path, beware, it’s pretty uneven ground.

Zennor Quoit looms on the horizon to the SWest and the path is easy to follow.
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Once there I was undecided as to which way to go next, down to Zennor and the Tinners Arms, or onto other sites. The fact that I could see Mulfra Quoit on the horizon weighted my decision and I decided to head south along the old trackway before turning west to the Bishop’s Head and Foot boundry marker. This involved trudging through along muddy paths but the sense of space and the fact that the sun was shining made up for it. On the left hand side of the road beside Kerrowe Cottage is a stone with a nice carving on it, I don’t believe it tobe very old and judging by the “standing stones” opposit possibly a residents artwork.

Follow the tarmaced track to the road then carry on ahead to the “main” road. Cross the road and find the path that leads up over the northern saddle of Mulfra Hill. Yet again I decided to head out cross open moor and took myself off up the side of the hill. A couple of times I thought I had stuimbled across an unknown stone circle lying hidden in the gorse but decided my imagination was playing tricks. There is so much rock up there and at times you can trace a large arc between them, but never mind.

Eventually I picked up a path and found the quoit.
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I could not have asked for a better view, the Lizard stood out clear as a bell, St Michael’s Mount sat below me and the sun caught the roofs of Newlyn giving them a silver coating. Time for a cup of coffee and a rest.

I suddenly realised time was getting on and I was far from the car. A footpath supposedly runs east from here down to the road but somewhere along the way I lost it and just plunged down the hillside dwarfed by boulders before reaching a forest of Rhododendrons.

I had thought of visiting the Tyre Menhir but time was getting on so I headed to Tyre Farm and turned left along another muddy footpath. Reaching a large Badger holt the path carries on cross a field to a gate beside a small pond (puddle!). In the next field a new fence has been eracted and the route of the path is not clear. However what is marked on the OS map as a round wall around a shaft interested me, is it just a round wall or is it a hillfort?
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I climbed over the new fence at the far end of the field having decided there was no way through the hedge and skirted the pond before finding a rusty gate hidden in the undergrowth. It was impossible to open so I climbed over, disturbing a fox in the process. Turn left along the valley and you soon come back out onto the Kerrowe track, turn right.

THe simple way back from here is to follow the bridleway around the south side of Amalveor Downs to Embla Vean then by road to Towednack. I chose a slightly longer route heading more to the south but this did not include any sites of TMA interest except for a couple of tumuli sat overgrown in fields.

The walk took me about 5 hours including stops and it’s not just a trudge between quoits it’s a walk that offers lots more, space, views, and if like me you don’t meet anyone all day, solitude.

28th January 2004

Started day 2 at the carpark beside the engine houses of Carn Galver mine (on the B3306). It was here that my love affair with Penwith began. On a blustery day in Feb 1987 a friend gave me my introduction to rock climbing, if you want to get close to this landscape try hanging on to it by your fingers whilst the waves crash 200ft below you.

Today I head away from the sea, up the footpath/stream that runs along the west side of Carn Galver.
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I have been up amongst the rocks before so today I carry on to the crest of the hill untill I come to a crossroads of paths. Turning right brings me to the field in which the Maen Scryfa stands.
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Sadly the sun is right behind the stone so reading the inscription is not easy and photgraphing it impossible. I am struck by the contrast between lush green fields, stone walls and barren moorland. The dead bracken has turned much of the landscape a dull brown colour, only turning gold when the sun hits it at the right angle.

From the maen Scryffa it is a short walk to the men-an-tol, all is good there and after a short rest I carry on in the direction of Greenburrow Engine House (commonly known as Ding Dong).

Just after passing the little stream I noticed a pile of boulders on the right hand side. Amongst these and just beside the path is a square pit. Gorse and hawthorn grow out of it and it is full of water. I plunged my stick it and found it had a bottom, not far down. Like the “Hillfort” yesterday could this be an undiscovered cairn? or is it a mining relic, I will do some research and see what i can find out.

Ding Dong reached and explored (I wont bore you with mining details) I headed back towards Boskedndan circle.
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The footpath is thin and runs through gorse and bracken but by following the wall I found my way to a cairn on the south end of the ridge. This lays buried amongst gorse, but with most of the other bracken etc dead it was possible to make out the stones that form the cairn.

The ridge runs north towards Carn Galvers mighty south peak and the stone circle is soon reached. It is rather a wet area in winter and a couple of times I was glad of my stick and high sides of my boots. I missed the standing stone but did explore the tumuli at the north end of the ridge before charging out across the moor to Little Galver, the rocky luump to the east. This was hard going! I wouldn’t reccomend it but I had decided I wanted to visit the quoit at Bosporthennis.

After a lot of hard work I reahed the walls that surround the quoit. Wow! this is a stoney landscape but imagine how many stones were used to build these walls? Up to 4ft thick inplaces and about 5ft tall we marvel at what it took to build the monuments but think how much work went into building these. And how old are they? who knows, some say the field patterns down here date back to the bronze age.{17,18,19,20}}

Having visited the quoit I head back to the road down another vague footpath before following the road back to the car. Looks like I am in time for a pint and a bowl of fish soup at the Gurnards Head
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Sorry Phil but “Essa 3” is the possible stump of a menhir that Robin Payne mentions on page 249 and 250.
In the hedge behind it there are several other large stones of the same type and the Devils Stone is at the bottom of the field.

Just a word of warning to anyone thinking of visiting this site. The landowner is not at all happy for people to set foot on his land. He has “asked” me not to use the footpath that runs through his farm and has gone to court to try and get it taken off the map. I have also been told by others in the know that he has threatened others, so...

During the 2nd WW an American airforce supply plane crashed onto the hill above the fields. It was carrying a supply of spam and plasma........nice.

There is a very basic campsite just over the hedge from the Pipers. Just a field and a toilet plus shower. All you need really. Penzance is not too far away if you do need anything and you have the whole of Penwith to explore close at hand.
If you do find you have some spare time after visiting all the sites from TMA then just take a walk along the coast path from Penberth Cove or Lamorna to St Loy’s Cove where you will find a tea shop/Cafe that serves wonderful home grown food.
Other places worth visiting include Porthgwarra right down on the South West tip where caves have been cut through the cliffs to reachthe beach and as you head west round the headland you come across a giant hole and some of the most dramatic cliffs in Cornwall.
And don’t go to Lands End!