Thursday 14 September 2017
Tuesday 12 September 2017
Virtual exploration of an Island Archaeology
I've been kindly sent these photos by a friend who is on holiday in Isles of Scilly:
Friday 8 September 2017
St Levan Church (A Slight Return) .. Cornwall pt 7
An afternoon walk to The Church of St Levan allowed us time to take in the carvings which adorn the church pew ends. The majority of pew ends date from the early 16th Century through until the modern era - with two probable exceptions which may date back to the 14th Century (Hoyle, S. 2007).
I have captured only a handful of these carvings .. and look forward to future visits to explore them further - along with the Rood Screen!
In Hoyle's work the carving of St Levan's fishes, is considered "..the most precious pew-end in the church because it is the only surviving pre-Reformation reference to Selevan." Selevan - St Levan - after whom the church and nearby holy well are named. Hoyle goes on to recount the story of Selevan - catching two fish, throwing them both back dissatisfied - only to re-catch them. Taking them home, he finds his sister and her children visiting. Cooking the fish for supper turns to disaster as the children eat so greedily that they choke on the fish and die.
Hoyle tells us that this pilgrim has been to Santiago de Compostela a popular site of pilgrimage since the 1100's - as indicated by the scallop shell which adorns his hat.
Bibliography
Hoyle, S. (2007) The Church of St Levan A Guide & History Hypatia Publications, Penzance
I have captured only a handful of these carvings .. and look forward to future visits to explore them further - along with the Rood Screen!
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| St Levan's fishes |
In Hoyle's work the carving of St Levan's fishes, is considered "..the most precious pew-end in the church because it is the only surviving pre-Reformation reference to Selevan." Selevan - St Levan - after whom the church and nearby holy well are named. Hoyle goes on to recount the story of Selevan - catching two fish, throwing them both back dissatisfied - only to re-catch them. Taking them home, he finds his sister and her children visiting. Cooking the fish for supper turns to disaster as the children eat so greedily that they choke on the fish and die.
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| The Jolly Fool |
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| The Grim Fool |
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| The Santiago Pilgrim |
Hoyle tells us that this pilgrim has been to Santiago de Compostela a popular site of pilgrimage since the 1100's - as indicated by the scallop shell which adorns his hat.
Bibliography
Hoyle, S. (2007) The Church of St Levan A Guide & History Hypatia Publications, Penzance
Boleigh Fogou .. Cornwall pt 6
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| south eastern "entrance" |
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| looking north west - the creep entrance on left |
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| continuing north west through fogou |
I've been hankering after a visit to the Iron Age souterrain called Boleigh Fogou for sometime now. Earlier visits to the more accessible Cornish fogous at Carn Euny and Chysauster - along with the thrilling ramblings of Julian Cope in The Modern Antiquarian (1998) - mean't that this visit was long overdue. These man made caves and passageways still hold a mystery as to their original purposes - with grain storage, defence or ritual all being suggested (perhaps a combination of all?).
Boleigh Fogou lies in the wooded - private garden of Rosemerrynwood - as such a visit to this site is by appointment only. However, a swift exchange of phone calls mid-week secured both a Friday viewing and a warm welcome from the host. We were left free to explore the site alone, and were given no time pressure in which to do this.
As you enter the subterranean building from the south eastern "entrance" it is only a short way through, before you find a door on the left hand side. This door leads into a further passage - both lower in height and more intimate than the first. This second passage is known as a "Creep". Any ambient light from the doorway is lost almost completely as you edge forward into this new passage.
Turning the head torch on I jumped as a seated figure hove starkly into close view. This anthropomorphic stone is presumably not an original feature of the Iron Age archaeology - instead carved and placed by modern hands - to represent mother and child - a product of modern ritual use of the site?
Beyond the "mother" stone the creep turns left at what feels like a right-angle. Underground the alignment of the creep, to the wider passage from which you first enter is a little disorientating? McNeil Cooke (1996) has a schematic drawing which shows the creep running away from the main passage at an approx. 45deg angle - when I was inside it felt almost as if the creep was in parallel with the wider passage and sharing a wall along it's length? A timely reminder not to take up the sport of caving perhaps, for how could I ever find my way out of a complex cave system, when a simple two passage underground building confuses my senses?
As you turn and exit the creep - a second humanoid object can be seen. A tiny clay figure - standing dark against a small pale spherical rock. A further reminder that this Iron Age site retains ritual significance into the modern era.
A mooch around the Historic Cornwall website provides a wider insight into the frequency and occurrence of these enigmatic Iron Age features, and a discussion of their possible uses.
Bibliographys
Both Julian Cope's Modern Antiquarian (1998) and Ian McNeil Cookes Mermaid to MerryMaid Journey to The Stones (1996) have been fully referenced elsewhere in this current series of Cornwall blogs
Thursday 7 September 2017
St Senara's Church,The Zennor Mermaid and Crosses .. Cornwall pt 5
When we arrived in Treen on Saturday afternoon, we carefully parked the car close to the garden wall ensuring that there was not an enticing gap left between it and the wall. The gap needed to be suitably small to deter any passing cow - on its way to the local milking-shed - from squeezing between the car and the wall, damaging the vehicle or worse itself.
We had envisaged a week of mainly walking, and the cottage's location gave easy access to the local network of footpaths incl. the coastal path for the majority of our explorations.
As such it wasn't until the Thursday that we finally ventured out under petrol power and in doing so - headed across the headland to Zennor.
The Zennor Parish Council has an excellent website which describes all things local and of interest to both tourists and those chasing nearby stones and legends: Zennor Parish Council
St Senara's Church at Zennor stands within a pre-Christian footprint - it's circular graveyard over lies Iron Age boundaries, which in turn straddle even more ancient boundaries dating back to the Neolithic (ibid). The current Norman church is thought to probably stand on the site of a 6th Century chapel (MacNeil Cooke, 1996; Cornwall Guide 2018) .. the founding of Christianity in Cornwall being eloquently styled on the Zennor Parish Council website as: "Christianity came to Zennor when the Age of Saints followed the fall of the Roman Empire."
In the Churchyard stand at least three ancient Crosses, the first of which greets the visitor as they step through the main entrance to the church, the other two adorn the grave of the Cornish Antiquarian, William Borlase. There are also other interesting Celtic style crosses within it's confines.
The Church is famous for it's association with the story of the Mermaid of Zennor, and the chair within comprising of two carved wooden medieval pew ends - one of which contains the image of the Zennor Mermaid herself.
The second wooden pew end appears to the untrained eye to be decorative rather than symbolic in meaning. I suspect it gets far less attention than it's more glamorous counterpart? I have included it below for the purpose of completion.
For a fuller description of the legend of the Mermaid of Zennor I will return again to the excellent Zennor Parish Council website: The Mermaid of Zennor
It was probably the local Church guidebook that drew our attention to the lone stone craving of a head which adorns the external south eastern corner of the Chapel entrance. If I remember correctly it is the only carving on the whole of the outside of the building? I can find no reference to it otherwise - and simply wish that I had purchased a copy of the guidebook - it would have been more than useful in the writing of this Blog entry!
Bibliography
MacNeil Cooke, I. (1996) 2nd Edition Mermaid to Merrymaid Journey to the Stones Cornwall Litho Redruth
Cornwall Guide (2018) ONLINE Zennor Available at: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/Zennor Retrieved 7th Jan 2018
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| Cottage and Car, Treen |
We had envisaged a week of mainly walking, and the cottage's location gave easy access to the local network of footpaths incl. the coastal path for the majority of our explorations.
As such it wasn't until the Thursday that we finally ventured out under petrol power and in doing so - headed across the headland to Zennor.
 |
| St Senara's Church and Graveyard Cross |
The Zennor Parish Council has an excellent website which describes all things local and of interest to both tourists and those chasing nearby stones and legends: Zennor Parish Council
St Senara's Church at Zennor stands within a pre-Christian footprint - it's circular graveyard over lies Iron Age boundaries, which in turn straddle even more ancient boundaries dating back to the Neolithic (ibid). The current Norman church is thought to probably stand on the site of a 6th Century chapel (MacNeil Cooke, 1996; Cornwall Guide 2018) .. the founding of Christianity in Cornwall being eloquently styled on the Zennor Parish Council website as: "Christianity came to Zennor when the Age of Saints followed the fall of the Roman Empire."
In the Churchyard stand at least three ancient Crosses, the first of which greets the visitor as they step through the main entrance to the church, the other two adorn the grave of the Cornish Antiquarian, William Borlase. There are also other interesting Celtic style crosses within it's confines.
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| Cross |
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| Crosses - William Borlase's Grave |
The Church is famous for it's association with the story of the Mermaid of Zennor, and the chair within comprising of two carved wooden medieval pew ends - one of which contains the image of the Zennor Mermaid herself.
 |
| The Mermaid of Zennor |
The second wooden pew end appears to the untrained eye to be decorative rather than symbolic in meaning. I suspect it gets far less attention than it's more glamorous counterpart? I have included it below for the purpose of completion.
For a fuller description of the legend of the Mermaid of Zennor I will return again to the excellent Zennor Parish Council website: The Mermaid of Zennor
It was probably the local Church guidebook that drew our attention to the lone stone craving of a head which adorns the external south eastern corner of the Chapel entrance. If I remember correctly it is the only carving on the whole of the outside of the building? I can find no reference to it otherwise - and simply wish that I had purchased a copy of the guidebook - it would have been more than useful in the writing of this Blog entry!
Bibliography
MacNeil Cooke, I. (1996) 2nd Edition Mermaid to Merrymaid Journey to the Stones Cornwall Litho Redruth
Cornwall Guide (2018) ONLINE Zennor Available at: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/Zennor Retrieved 7th Jan 2018
Tuesday 5 September 2017
Of Walks and Crosses .. Porthgwarra, Treryn Dinas and Logan Rock .. Cornwall pt 4
The weather in vast improvement to the preceding days, saw the sun shining and a striking blue but not quite cloudless sky. We decided a walk to Porthgwarra was indicated - with hopefully some migrant birds along the way?
Taking an inland route we headed across the fields passing Rospletha Cross and St Levan Church then taking the footpath towards Roskestral. At the junction of this path with the footpath to Ardenswah is a stile containing a Cross head in a field called "Churchway Downs" (Macneil Cooke 1996).
Our next stop was a small pool to the south west of the Porthgwarra road, scrub lined it looked promising for any skulking migrants. Only a single calling chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) was of note. However, our attention was still held for sometime by three golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), in fierce aerial pursuit of each other.
On the cliffs to the immediate west of Porthgwarra, the heathers were in full bloom. An occasional wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) flushed ahead of us, but other than that birds on land were very scarce. Along the coast path a number of flighty grayling (Hipparchia Semele) tempted me to chase them for a photograph. With only the iPhone camera to hand I had to rely heavily on my meagre wildlife stalking skills, hampered as they were by the cast of a long shadow!
Whilst, head down chasing the grayling, a chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) called as it flew overhead.
No trip to Porthgwarra is complete without taking refreshment at the: Porthgwarra Cove Café The traditional Cornish Pasty served at this Café - is our most favourite pasty in all of our Cornish travels! The traditional pasty from Kynance Café comes a very close second, and on a good day it's very difficult to make the call between them both?
With a very enjoyable lunch break over, we took a slow walk past the Cottage gardens following the coast path east out of the cove. The birds if any were hiding! We passed St Levan's Holy Well, Porthcurno and carried on towards Treryn Dinas.
All along the coastal path we kept stopping at the frequent clumps of ivy (Hedera helix) which grow within the hedgerows and scrub layer. No ivy was complete without an adornment of butterflies - red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) being the most common, with painted lady (V. cardui) and small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) also present in significant numbers. Between the hedgerows speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) defiantly held on to their territories, even so late in the season.
Treryn Dinas is an Iron Age promontory hillfort dating somewhere between 300BC -100BC (MacNeil Cooke 1996). Historic England (2017) describes such monuments as: "a type of hillfort in which conspicuous naturally defended sites are adapted as enclosures by the construction of one or more earth or stone ramparts placed across the neck of a spur in order to divide it from the surrounding land".
The "naturally defended" aspect of Treyrn Dinas can be clearly seen in the photograph below - where a bank and ditch runs down to the cliff edge below it. In total the defences at Treryn Dinas comprise three banks and ditches and a causeway which is defended by a low stone wall (Historic England 2017).
Beyond the causeway lie towering rocky outcrops, one of which contains the famous "Logan Rock". Deriving it's name from the massive stones ability to be rocked - or logged - it is the local celebrity, and the public house at nearby Treen is named after it. The 19th Century account of its deliberate dislodgement by a Captain and crew of a cutter, is the stuff of legend. The eponymous Logan Rock Inn contains many an account of the cost born in returning the stone to its rightful resting place, after the act of deliberate vandalism.
It is not hard to see why the dramatic cliff top setting of this windswept hillfort has evoked other more mystical & magickal legends - of a site inhabited by witches, little people; and of a Giant who held the fort and hurled rocks at passing ships (MacNeil Cooke 1996).
A description of some of the local legends associated with Porthcurno and its surroundings incl. Treryn Dinas can be found at: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/myths-legends/porthcurno.htm
Bibliography
MacNeil Cooke, I. (1996) 2nd Edition Mermaid to Merrymaid Journey to the Stones Cornwall Litho Redruth
Historic England (2017) ONLINE Promontory fort known as Treryn Dinas Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006733 Retrieved 2nd Jan 2018
Taking an inland route we headed across the fields passing Rospletha Cross and St Levan Church then taking the footpath towards Roskestral. At the junction of this path with the footpath to Ardenswah is a stile containing a Cross head in a field called "Churchway Downs" (Macneil Cooke 1996).
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| Churchway Field Cross |
Our next stop was a small pool to the south west of the Porthgwarra road, scrub lined it looked promising for any skulking migrants. Only a single calling chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) was of note. However, our attention was still held for sometime by three golden-ringed dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), in fierce aerial pursuit of each other.
On the cliffs to the immediate west of Porthgwarra, the heathers were in full bloom. An occasional wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe) flushed ahead of us, but other than that birds on land were very scarce. Along the coast path a number of flighty grayling (Hipparchia Semele) tempted me to chase them for a photograph. With only the iPhone camera to hand I had to rely heavily on my meagre wildlife stalking skills, hampered as they were by the cast of a long shadow!
 |
| Grayling (Record Shot) |
Whilst, head down chasing the grayling, a chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) called as it flew overhead.
No trip to Porthgwarra is complete without taking refreshment at the: Porthgwarra Cove Café The traditional Cornish Pasty served at this Café - is our most favourite pasty in all of our Cornish travels! The traditional pasty from Kynance Café comes a very close second, and on a good day it's very difficult to make the call between them both?
 |
| The best Cornish Pasty in the County? Probably! |
With a very enjoyable lunch break over, we took a slow walk past the Cottage gardens following the coast path east out of the cove. The birds if any were hiding! We passed St Levan's Holy Well, Porthcurno and carried on towards Treryn Dinas.
All along the coastal path we kept stopping at the frequent clumps of ivy (Hedera helix) which grow within the hedgerows and scrub layer. No ivy was complete without an adornment of butterflies - red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) being the most common, with painted lady (V. cardui) and small tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) also present in significant numbers. Between the hedgerows speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) defiantly held on to their territories, even so late in the season.
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| Red admiral(s) on coastal Ivy |
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| Towards Treryn Dinas and the Logan Rock |
Treryn Dinas is an Iron Age promontory hillfort dating somewhere between 300BC -100BC (MacNeil Cooke 1996). Historic England (2017) describes such monuments as: "a type of hillfort in which conspicuous naturally defended sites are adapted as enclosures by the construction of one or more earth or stone ramparts placed across the neck of a spur in order to divide it from the surrounding land".
The "naturally defended" aspect of Treyrn Dinas can be clearly seen in the photograph below - where a bank and ditch runs down to the cliff edge below it. In total the defences at Treryn Dinas comprise three banks and ditches and a causeway which is defended by a low stone wall (Historic England 2017).
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| Treryn Dinas - rampart detail |
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| Treryn Dinas - Outer wall and ditch |
Beyond the causeway lie towering rocky outcrops, one of which contains the famous "Logan Rock". Deriving it's name from the massive stones ability to be rocked - or logged - it is the local celebrity, and the public house at nearby Treen is named after it. The 19th Century account of its deliberate dislodgement by a Captain and crew of a cutter, is the stuff of legend. The eponymous Logan Rock Inn contains many an account of the cost born in returning the stone to its rightful resting place, after the act of deliberate vandalism.
It is not hard to see why the dramatic cliff top setting of this windswept hillfort has evoked other more mystical & magickal legends - of a site inhabited by witches, little people; and of a Giant who held the fort and hurled rocks at passing ships (MacNeil Cooke 1996).
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| Logan Rock |
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| Logan Rock and windswept "selfie" |
A description of some of the local legends associated with Porthcurno and its surroundings incl. Treryn Dinas can be found at: https://www.cornwalls.co.uk/myths-legends/porthcurno.htm
Bibliography
MacNeil Cooke, I. (1996) 2nd Edition Mermaid to Merrymaid Journey to the Stones Cornwall Litho Redruth
Historic England (2017) ONLINE Promontory fort known as Treryn Dinas Available at: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1006733 Retrieved 2nd Jan 2018
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