Marvel at Bronze Age Cornwall’s Mysterious Remains
While the remains of our mining heritage dominate much of the landscape, hidden amongst these layers of our more immediate history are much early reminders of our ancestors. Elizabeth Dale focuses on some Cornwall’s most mysterious and inspiring examples of the work of our Bronze Age ancestors.
The story of our mining history and the extraction of minerals from the ground in Cornwall dates back far further than is commonly thought. Back in fact to around 2500BC, when the Bronze Age began. This was a time of vibrant activity and scientific and cultural development in Cornwall. A time also characterised by the building of enigmatic ceremonial and burial monuments. This stone and earth constructions requiring enormous skill, planning and organisation. For our early ancestor’s marking their landscape with cairns, barrows, standing stones and stone circles became a vital part of their lives, religion and culture.
Today for our best glimpse into that ancient world we have to travel to some of the country’s wilder, more isolated regions. During the Cornish Bronze Age the largest populations of people were gathered on Bodmin Moor, the Lizard and the West Penwith and it is here that we can see our ancestors at work 4000 years later.
Men-an –tol
There is no other site in Cornwall, indeed anywhere, quite like Men-an-tol. It must be one of the most visited Bronze Age sites in the whole of the county but it still retains its enigmatic charm. The unusual donut shaped stone is flanked by two upright standing stones and it’s unclear what its original use was.
This mysterious site has all manner of legends attached to it. Not far from the stones is believed to be the site of an ancient battle between the Cornish Prince Rialobran and an unknown invading army.
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In more recent times it was thought that passing through the holed stone was a cure for various ailments including rickets, back pain and tuberculosis. Many ancient stones have fertility myths connected to them and Men-an-tol is not exception. It was thought that if a woman passed through the holed stone seven times on a full moon she would fall pregnant.
Boscawen-Un
This Bronze Age monument is special for several reasons, for a start this stone circle is not a circle – it’s an oval. The placement of the 19 upright stones is thought to follow the course that the moon takes across the night sky.
Unusually there is also a central stone which leans at quite a dramatic angle and to the south side the largest stone is a beautiful solid block of bright white quartz about 4ft high. There are so many stories about this circle. The first is that the central stone was erected before the circle and that it was once upright. There are theories that this stone was disturbed by treasure hunters digging beneath it and it is also said to have images of axe heads carved into its side. There are also the usual stories of maidens turned to stone for dancing on a Sunday and some believe it was an ancient meeting place for druids. To this day the circle is used by local pagans and offerings can frequently be found here.
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Whatever the truth is this is a beautiful site where you can almost feel the layers of history beneath your feet.
Ballowal Barrow
Dramatically situated on the cliffs close to Cape Cornwall Ballowall Barrow is a unique monument. This ancient tomb was once the final resting place for Bronze Age man and is actually part of a complex of burial cairns and cists in use from the Iron Age. The monument would have been built by the local community to house their ancestor’s remains and would have been a place of great significance to them.
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The barrow also known as Carn Gluze is made up of two intricately constructed concentric stone walls. These walls enclose five stone lined chambers known as cists with at least two cremations sites inside. Excavations have uncovered Bronze Age pottery and burnt bone.
The passage of time and later human intervention mean that the site would have once looked very different. It was originally covered in a cairn of stones roughly 65 feet in diameter and over 15 feet high and would have been a far more striking landmark.
The Stripple Stones
All the ancient monuments that we have here in Cornwall have stood up amazingly well against the ravages of time but sometimes they do need a little help as the Stripple Stones prove.
Beneath the dark silhouette of Hawks tor, not far from Blisland on Bodmin Moor, stands the recently renovated Stripple-stones Stone Circle.
This unique circle is over 5000 years old and one of just three in Cornwall that stands on a raised bank and ditch henge. Sadly until last year it was in a very poor state of repair. A modern hedge was cutting through the monument but more pressing was the damage being done by livestock. Most of the stones had also fallen and were lying flat in the damp earth and the whole site was in danger of disappearing into the landscape.
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Fortunately however a great deal of work has been done to safeguard the site and there is now a brand new right of way providing public access recently agreed upon by English Heritage and the resident farmer.
The site was constructed around 3000BC and English Heritage have done a great job in bringing it back to life. There are now 11 upright stones, some as much as 2.5m high, although some estimates say that the circle may have once consisted of as many as 28 standing stones! The hedge has been removed and the henge, with a diameter of roughly 46m, restored.
It is wonderful that access has now been granted to this special and atmospheric site and it is well worth the short walk especially if you combine it with a visit to the Trippet stones which are close by.
Leskernick Hut Circles
Bodmin Moor is an area of Cornwall where myths and legends abound and you only have to visit the moor on a misty day to understand why. It is a dramatic and atmospheric place that is littered with ancient remains.
In a particularly isolated part of Bodmin Moor this is an extraordinarily well-preserved site few have heard of or visited. At first Leskernick hill just appears to be covered with a jumble of loose stones but as you get closer man-made structures start to appear. The hill is home to a wonderful Bronze Age village complete with at least 44 hut circles or round houses and an intricate field system.
The village is part of a complex that also contains two stone circles, a large cairn and a stone row which stretches 300m across the surrounding landscape. It is a magical place to stop and let your imagination run wild, conjuring up visions of the society that built and inhabited this place thousands of years ago.
Other not-to-be-missed ancient sites:
Lanyon Quoit
Madron Holy Well
The Hurlers
Trethevy Quoit
Stannon Stone Circle
Further Reading:
Cornovia: Ancient sites of Cornwall and Scilly Craig Weatherhill
Ancient Cornwall Paul White
Discovering Bodmin Moor E V Thompson
The Romance of the Stones Robin Payne and Rosemarie Lewsey