Lanyon Quoit, Mulfra Quoit and Ballowall Barrow, West Penwith, Cornwall
Visited October 2019
Something a bit different this time - a combination of two of my favourite things (graves and prehistoric archaeology - yes, I am that person!). Cornwall is scattered with prehistoric sites, and in October last year I was able to visit a few of them in the far west of the county, near to Lands End.
Lanyon quoit (quoit's the Cornish word for a dolmen) is in a field near the road - it looks impressive, even surrounded by cows, but is sadly a reconstruction of the original monument which collapsed in 1815. Prior to that it was taller, and had 4 supporting stones. It stands at the end of a much eroded Neolithic long barrow. Inauthentic perhaps, but well worth a visit!
Mulfra quoit is another Neolithic dolmen. The photo is quite distant, as so was I - this one is a bit of a hike to get to, on the top of a hill, and we didn't have time to get all the way there. The capstone has slipped off its three supports, giving it the appearance here.
A bit later in date is Ballowall Barrow, which contains both Neolithic and Bronze Age burials - it's quite unique due to that. The barrow is 22m across, and despite the National Trust sign nearby, it's quite hard to spot among the rocks and moorland! It's on the cliff near St Just and Cape Cornwall, with views over old tin mines and the sea. The tin mines are what preserved it - for many years it was buried under mining waste until its discovery in the 1870s.
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